The Dragon and the Senshi: A Mysterious World
by Marvey4
Summary: Sequel to The Dragon and the Senshi. Gray Fullbuster, who has been looking for his missing teammate for the past three years. Natsu Dragneel, who's living in peace with his new family after fulfilling his mission. When a new enemy attacks both, they find themselves in a mysterious world where they'll have to work together to save their comrades. Gray/Erza Natsu/Michiru.
1. Prologue

**Author's note: Hello there. It's been a while since the last time. This story is a sequel to The Dragon and the Senshi in case it's not obvious. Have fun!**

 **Disclaimer:  
Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha Comics  
Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima and Kodansha Comics**

"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
 _Flashback_

The Dragon and the Senshi: A mysterious world

Prologue

The year is 780. In Crocus City, the capital of the Kingdom of Fiore, a certain merchant who has recently gathered influence and connections decided to hold a charity event, with a masquerade as a theme. Many prominent members of the merchant guild and nobles were invited, including Princess Hisui herself. The guests, who up until that point were merrily chatting and enjoying the amenities of the ball, turned to the stage, where a tall, middle aged man with combed short grey hair and a thin moustache cleared his throat.

"If I could get your attention please. On behalf of our guild, I would like to thank you all for attending this event today. We know all of you have busy schedules, and it warms my heart to see that so many took the time to come and assist in this endeavour to better the lives of our fellow countrymen. As her highness knows…"

The man went on, clearly having prepared his speech beforehand. Meanwhile, a certain young man with spiky dark hair observed the affluent man. He's one of the guests who opted to wear a mask, and his simple black tuxedo gave the impression that he's one of the upstarts of the guild. As he stood apart from the crowd, a beautiful woman approached him, smiling under her own butterfly mask.

"You must be new in the world of business." She noted, giving the young man a not so subtle look over. "Standing alone, without a drink and not even bothering to hide your contempt for our esteemed host. You are in your early twenties, most likely in the first party without your benefactor. Am I wrong?"

The dark haired man turned to his sudden companion, noticing the red low cut dress that hugged her curvy figure, as well as her luscious, wavy blond hair, and allowed a slight smirk to form on his lips.

"Is people watching one of your hobbies, milady Rochefort?" He asked in return.

"My my. You may be more informed than I realized." Lady Rochefort said, sauntering closer. "A word of advice; you might think our host, lord Ruthford, to be a benevolent merchant. The truth is, he is quite cunning and has surrounded himself with powerful allies. It's even said that he has gained the favour of King Touma. And his sharp dressed men in black are not joking. So it might be in your best interest to pretend to be interested in this gathering."

"Won't you get in trouble for telling me this?" The young man wondered, his cocked eyebrow visible above the mask. The woman chuckled in response.

"Let's just say I've taken an interest in you." She admitted before she placed her hand on the man's shoulder. "But seeing as neither of us want to listen to dear old Ruthford, what say we continue this discussion to your room?"

"I suppose I don't need to ask why your room isn't available, milady." The dark haired man mused, and the blonde showed annoyance for the first time.

"I'll be grateful if you don't make me talk about that boorish man." She said.

"My apologies if I have soured your good mood." The dark haired man said while taking the woman's hand in his own. "But I'm afraid there's a matter which requires my immediate attention. Should that get taken care of, I will look for you, milady Rochefort."

"I shall hold you to that, my mysterious stranger. But before you go, won't you at least offer me your name?" The blonde enquired, causing the young man to offer her a mischievous smile.

"I would answer, but where's the fun in spilling secrets?" He joked before he planted a kiss on Lady Rochefort's hand and made his escape. Heading to the exit, he spared one last glance to the host, who's still giving his speech, and snuck out of the room. The dark haired man let out a breath and loosened his tie before he took out a small lacrima that was glowing. Activating it, he heard a woman's voice coming from it.

"Having fun at the party?" She asked, earning a groan from the young man.

"Yeah, talking like I have a stick up my ass was so much fun. Those rich ladies can be pretty nosy." He snarked while walking down the hallway.

"You have too much charm to blend in." The woman noted, clearly amused, as the masked man reached a staircase.

"And you would know about my charm." He deadpanned before he grew serious. "From this point there are guards. Have our friends the rune knights on standby."

"I know you can do it. Good luck, Gray." The woman said before shutting down the lacrima, and Gray moved to the upper floor.

'Mercenaries, but no signs of mages among them.' The dark haired man thought, inspecting the armour of the guards before he opened a window. His plan was to scale the building from the outside with his magic, and the lack of mages worked to his advantage. It wasn't long before Gray reached the room he was looking for. This time he deliberately made sure that the sharp dressed guard would see the window being opened, and he knocked him out when the guard got closer. The mage hid the unconscious mercenary and entered the room.

"If I was a pompous ass, where would I hide the switch?" Gray mused as his eyes fell on a rather large portrait of merchant Ruthford. Removing it, he found the lever. "Bingo."

The wall gave way, revealing a hidden room, and at the centre of it the object that Gray was looking for. However, the moment the mage removed it from its place, the wall behind him shut down.

'Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Sneaking isn't my thing anyway.' Gray thought, grinning as he faced the wall. "I suggest you move away from the wall."

On the other side, the mercenaries laughed in response to Gray's advice.

"This wall is enhanced by magic. What are you going to do, tear it down?" One mercenary asked, while another said, "Just stay put, you little thief. You were in over your head, trying to steal from a place we, the Azure Wolves, are guarding!"

"Don't say I didn't warn you!" Gray simply said before the entire room shook, causing the laughter to die down. Another shaking, and the wall that separated them blew up, revealing the mage with only his pants.

"That tattoo on his chest! He's Gray Fullbuster of Fairy Tail!" One of the guards exclaimed.

"Why would an S Class Mage steal from lord Ruthford?" Another wondered and Gray smirked.

"You should choose your employees more carefully, though I really can't blame you in this case." The dark haired mage noted.

"It doesn't matter who he is. Our job is to stop anyone from stealing from lord Ruthford!" A tall bearded man declared as he stepped up and took out his sword. He let out a war cry as he charged at Gray, who sidestepped out of the attack and struck at the mercenary's gut with a punch, taking him out. The rest of the mercenaries were disheartened, but they attacked anyway, resulting in Gray fighting his way out of the room. He still had the merchant to collect.

* * *

'They're definitely professionals. Looks like Ruthford was suspicious that someone was on to him.' Gray thought, having run into more of the security on his way to the ballroom. Force opening the large door, he came face to face with the merchant, who was surrounded by the men in black, while the guests looked uneasy.

"You- you're a member of Fairy Tail! Why would you attack me, someone who is favoured by the king?" Ruthford stuttered, and Gray took out the item he got from the vault in response, causing the merchant to pale further.

"You are in possession of an illegal artefact. No amount of favour will save you from that, milord." The mage declared as he started walking towards the older man. "I suggest you come quietly."

"What are you looking at, you fools? Shoot him, shoot him now!" Ruthford ordered, and Gray noticed that to their credit, the mercenaries hesitated before unloading their weapons on him. The mage simply froze the bullets before he dashed past them, punching Ruthford in the gut and carrying him on his shoulder. The mercenaries moved to reload their weapons, but a glare from Gray stopped them. The dark haired man then jumped from a window, landing on his feet as a small group of men dressed in light blue priestly robes approached him. A bespectacled man with a dark ponytail who looked to be the leader glanced at the unconscious Ruthford before he turned to Gray.

"I trust you have more than this man?"

"You think I like carrying people on my shoulders?" Gray snarked as he handed the merchant to the rune knights, then took out the artefact and showed it to the council official.

"It looks exactly as we were informed." Lahar noted as a knight handed him a special case to place it. "Very well, then. We'll interrogate Ruthford to find out how he got his hands on the artefact. As for you, Gray-san, you have done well on another retrieval mission. I suggest you take a break."

"Will do, but we need to strike at the source. Tell me if you get anything from this guy." Gray said before he turned and walked away. It wasn't long before he found his partner leaning on a lamp post, smiling at him. Though her long scarlet hair covered one of her chocolate brown eyes, Gray could tell that Erza was amused.

"I still can't get used to you carrying out proper talks with council officials. It really brings a tear to my eye." Erza joked and Gray chuckled in response.

"I guess this is what happens when they stop getting into our hair all the time." The dark haired man mused as they started walking together.

"True. And you started breaking stuff after you found the artefact too." The scarlet haired woman added as she brought a shirt from her requip space and gave it to Gray.

"You think you break less stuff?" Gray countered, though his expression was amused rather than annoyed. "Besides, there was a lot of cake at the buffet. I'd have to get inside to remind you of the mission."

"I always put the mission above cake." Erza muttered, pouting.

"Remember that time you almost pummelled the client who hated sweet stuff?" Gray reminded his partner, whose cheeks matched the colour of her hair at the mention of that time.

"T-that was a one-time thing!" She stammered in response. Gray's expression softened and he didn't tease Erza further; instead he gently patted her on the head. Erza dropped the pout, but she remained flustered.

"I wonder if the others are at the bar already…" Gray started in order to change the subject, but he cut himself when he felt someone watching him. The dark haired man stopped walking and looked back.

"What's wrong?" Erza asked, confused, as Gray turned back to her.

"Nothing, probably just being more tired than I thought. I did hunt that trail for weeks." Gray tried to reassure his partner, but Erza looked sceptical.

"Has it happened before? Do you feel someone… calling you?" She hesitantly asked. Gray looked at the sky, realising where Erza was getting at.

"It's been almost three years…" He mused, lost in thought for a while before looking at the scarlet haired woman. "No, it's not like how Lucy described it. I told you, I've been on the trail for the artefact for some time, so I'm probably still a bit on edge."

"It better be that." Erza said as she lightly punched her partner in the arm. "If you disappear on me, I'll find you and kick your ass."

"And I wouldn't want that to happen." Gray noted, and the duo laughed before they went back on their way. Unknown to them, a masked spectre observed them from afar.

* * *

"Here you go!" Natsu said with a grin as he handed a bowl of ramen to excited little boy. The rose haired man turned to go back to the kitchen, smiling to the other customers on the way. While he got past the counter, his ears picked up his boss doing his antics as usual and he turned to observe the scene.

"Master, what's this?" A customer asked, staring incredulously at a large, steaming hot bowl in front of him that was dominated by a red sauce.

"Hmm? Mapo tofu. What else?" The boss answered naturally.

"But I ordered tonkotsu ramen!" The customer exclaimed, feeling overwhelmed by the sheer presence of the dish.

"Rejoice, young man. This mapo tofu has all the nutrition you need for a busy day." The boss explained before he went back to preparing another serving.

"Better drop it and go with the flow, lad. Manager Jouji's mapo tofu is a special dish." An older customer grinned at the young man. "You might find it too spicy to handle at first, but overcome the hotness and you'll find one of the best meals you've eaten in your life."

Other customers, most of them on the old side, encouraged the young customer in similar ways, so he gave it a shot.

"H-How is this possible? This mapo tofu is so hot, like entering the hot springs while still dressed, but it's so sweet and… comforting?" He exclaimed to himself before he blinked, realising that he already finished the serving. Bolting up, the young customer raised the bowl and shouted, "Master, seconds!". Manager Jouji, already expecting this response, smiled smugly and set a second serving.

'That guy, he did it again!' Natsu mused while preparing a different order. The rest of the shift went by quietly, so the rose haired man had time to contemplate on stuff.

'Manager Jouji is odd, randomly making mapo tofu when people haven't asked for it or bringing strange things from his trips, but he always means well. He took me in for work with no questions asked, taught me the dishes, and is lenient on the work hours since he knows both Michiru and I are busy. Though I get the feeling he used to be an assassin.' Natsu thought, glancing at the older man. Not only was he too ripped for a middle aged cook, he twirled his knives in dangerous ways from time to time. 'Like right now.' The rose haired man added inwardly, sweatdropping. There was also that time a yakuza group tried to make him pay protection money, only for them to run away in fear of the cook's deadly aura.

Just as he finished the order, Natsu noticed a small crowd gathering around a table. He approached the table and noticed a little girl who had become very dear to him over the past years. He might have met Hotaru late during the battle with the Death Busters, but her plight and her strong will, despite her frail body, drew the dragon slayer to her and gave him another drive to defeat their otherworldly enemies. And even though he initially failed to save her, the miracle that was brought forth by the powers of the Silver Crystal and the Holy Grail revived the girl and Natsu resolved to one of the things he least expected to do when he accepted Pluto's request; become a father figure to the girl. Then again, he didn't expect to fall in love either, but he had no idea he would meet the most wonderful woman in the world.

"She's been waiting for some time, so I made the kid some mapo tofu. Not to worry, it's mild." Manager Jouji said as he walked next to Natsu and smiled. "She grew up from the last time I saw her. You and your girl must have your hands full raising her."

"Honestly, sometimes we don't know what we would do if not for Hotaru." Natsu admitted with a chuckle. He'd been working for nearly two years at the restaurant, and Hotaru grew up by six years in that time. When the manager noticed that, he just gave Natsu a knowing look and said that kids grow up too fast these days. As for Hotaru's growth, Setsuna had theorised that the girl would rapidly reach the age before her reincarnation and then grow up normally, which is what seemed to happen so far. "Anyway, you are free to go for the day."

The cook then walked back to the kitchen, leaving Natsu to approach his adopted daughter, who noticed him and smiled.

"You should've told me you came." Natsu said, matching Hotaru's smile.

"But you were busy, Papa. I didn't want to bother you while you were working." The young girl explained, and Natsu laughed goodheartedly as he ruffled her hair.

"Well, I'm done for today so we can go." The rose haired man said and the duo bid farewell to everyone before they went to get Natsu's new scooter. He had recently gotten a licence since he finally managed to get rid of his motion sickness, though Natsu wouldn't risk boat travelling just yet.

"Not that I mind, but you came earlier than I expected. Wasn't Setsuna with you?" Natsu asked curiously.

"Something came up, so Setsuna-nee brought me here and then left." Hotaru answered as they stopped at a red light.

'Did something happen? Nah, it can't be that, there are no battles since we fought them… right?' Natsu thought, unconsciously placing his hand on the communicator that he hardly used these days. Suddenly he felt a chill, and the world blackened momentarily as a disjoined voice echoed in his head.

 ** _The time has come. Are you ready for the reunion?_**

Natsu remained stunned long after the world went back to normal, causing Hotaru to stare at him in worry.

"Papa, are you alright?" The purple haired girl asked, hugging her dad to snap him back, and Natsu noticed that the light had turned green.

"Everything's fine, Hotaru. I just remember an errant." He tried to reassure the young girl with a smile. Hotaru wasn't convinced by his poor excuse, but she smiled back at Natsu anyway and they continued their way back.

'I have a bad feeling about this. When we get home, I'll call Setsuna.' Natsu thought, but the communicator went off immediately. The rose haired man eyed it with suspicion before he pulled over to answer.

"Natsu, have you seen Setsuna today?" Haruka's voice was heard from the other side.

"She dropped Hotaru at the restaurant and left immediately. Did something happen?" Natsu asked, noticing the urgency in the blonde's voice.

"Nothing serious. And she probably got stuck in traffic now that I think about it, so don't worry." Haruka vaguely answered, further confirming Natsu's suspicions. Her next line didn't help either.

"Just, be careful." The tall blonde cautioned Natsu and shut off the communication.

'I didn't even get to tell her about the voice. And Setsuna disappearing like that, are they trying to keep us out of trouble? I should call Mitsuru…' The rose haired man pondered before Hotaru pulled his jacket to get his attention.

"Can we go? That weird person is staring at us." The purple haired girl said and Natsu followed her gaze. His instincts screamed as he laid eyes on a masked person with long, black hair, clad in a cloak that looked out of place in this part of the city, so Natsu jumped off the scooter, grabbed a street sign and ripped it off the ground.

"Stand back, Hotaru!" The dragon slayer growled as he launched the sign at the strange person like a spear, then bolted forward to get the jump on him. The masked figure simply raised a hand in response, causing the pole to disintegrate into nothing. They followed by raising the other hand, creating a dark sphere that prompted Natsu to stop and gather fire in his mouth.

"KARYU NO HOKO!" The dragon slayer yelled, launching a breath attack that completely engulfed the masked person.

'That's Earthland magic. How is this possible?' He wondered, realising that his attack was ineffective.

"Did you notice the extend of what I was about to unleash? Or did you realise that the little one would be out of your reach? Either way, stopping your advance was the right call, Natsu Dragneel." The masked figure mused with a short chuckle. Their voice sounded male.

"You're not from this planet. Who are you?" The dragon slayer demanded, glaring at the man whose chuckle turned into a full blown laughter.

"You will know when the time is right." He simply said before he took out a glowing orb, prompting Natsu to dash back to Hotaru in order to cover her while the light engulfed them.

* * *

Gray had trouble sleeping. He glanced to his side, where Erza slept peacefully, and smiled softly as he pushed a stray strand of scarlet hair behind her ear. The scarlet haired woman hummed in contentment and Gray stared at her for a while.

'I can't blame her for remembering Natsu's disappearance earlier, my reaction was not the best.' The dark haired man thought, frowning at the memory of their lost friend. 'Even after all this time, there's no sign of him. It's like he just disappeared. Not even Happy realised he was gone. Where did that idiot go off to?'

Getting pissed at his former teammate, Gray gave up on sleep and decided that a walk would help clear his mind. He tried to get up without waking his partner, but Erza proved too formidable even in her sleep.

"Where are you going?" The scarlet haired woman wondered drowsily as Gray was wearing his boots.

"Just for a walk." He told her before leaning and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Go back to sleep. I won't be long." He reassured her with a smile and left the room. Under the quiet, starlit sky of Crocus, Gray tried to sort his thoughts.

'Around the time Natsu disappeared, strange monsters started appearing in the country. The Baram Alliance became more active as well despite losing Oracion Seis, but the most important thing is the Black Mage Zeref's appearance on Tenrou Island during our S Class exam. A legendary dark mage from the past appearing on the guild's holy ground, and he seemed to know about Natsu. It's been so long since the exam and we still haven't found him.' The dark haired man clenched his fist, glaring at no one in particular. One of the reasons he agreed to help the council with the artefacts was so that he could get to Zeref and find a clue on what really happened with the dragon slayer, but the lack of progress was getting grating. Without realising, his feet brought him in front of the building that housed the artefacts they had retrieved in this part of the country.

'Strange, something's going on here.' The ice mage thought, noticing a shadow by a first floor window. He crouched behind a wall just as a nearby window was flung open, and a cloaked figure used a rope to make their escape. Gray narrowed his eyes while placing his hands on the ground, focusing while the thief walked away.

"Ice Make: Floor!" The ice mage whispered, sending a more concentrated version of his move that made a beeline for the cloaked figure, tripping them. He then used the line to slide towards his target, jumping above them with his hands in his signature pose.

"ICE MAKE: PRISON!" Gray yelled while trapping the thief, whose hood fell off and revealed unruly brown hair and a fair amount of stubble, then wordlessly forming a sword which he aimed at him. "Don't try anything funny.

"Tsk, they told me that nobody would be here." The brown haired man muttered before he threw two vials that shattered, releasing a liquid that melted the sword and part of the prison bars. Gray clicked his tongue, jumping to avoid the venom before he aimed his hands behind him and closed off the path with an ice wall.

"You really don't want to make your situation worse." The ice mage threatened the thief, who backed away momentarily before launching forward.

"My situation is bad enough if I don't get the artefact!" The brown haired man shouted while taking out a knife from his sleeve. In response, Gray shifted his stance and grabbed his foe by his extended arm, pulling him up and slamming him to the ground. The ice mage then moulded two pairs of cuffs and bound the unconscious thief.

"What was that about?" The dark haired mage wondered before his eyes fell on a wrapped item on the ground. The moment he picked it up, the feeling of being watched returned, and Gray realised they weren't alone. Suddenly, he felt a throbbing pain rising in his chest, and while his vision blurred considerably, he managed to notice a spectre in heavy priest looking garb before him.

"Who are you?" Gray grunted, but the priest seemingly floated towards him and removed the leather wrap, revealing a glowing orb.

 **"It is time for the lost lambs to gather! Do you have the resolve to survive, Gray Fullbuster?"** The priest declared with an unnatural voice as the orb's glow intensified, surrounding the area.

'Sorry, Erza. I messed up…' Were Gray's last thoughts before he, too, was engulfed.

* * *

 **Author's Note 2: It crossed my mind from time to time these past years. While I was more or less satisfied with how the first story ended up, the whole 'Fairy Tail never finding out what happened to Natsu' thing didn't sit well (as some of the people who read the story pointed out). That, and I also remembered how** **fun** **it was writing the Senshi in fighting scenes, something that was rather simplified in the manga and anime for the obvious reason that it wasn't that kind of series. So I thought on scenarios to work with and this is the result.** **I'm still rusty since I haven't written a story in quite some time, but I hope you'll enjoy this new project regardless. New chapters will probably be released every week. As always, reviews will be appreciated so you know what to do. Until next time.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:  
Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha Comics  
Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima and Kodansha Comics**

"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
 _Flashback_

The Dragon and the Senshi: A mysterious world

Chapter 1

 _"Hey, Gray! Get up, you lazy idiot!" A familiar voice called Gray, but the young mage ignored him. "I know you're not sleeping. Alright, you brought this on yourself!"_

 _The boy could ignore the annoying voice, but not the ball of snow that landed on his face. Jolting up, he glared at his brother disciple._

 _"What's the matter? The great Gray-sama can't handle a little cold?" Lyon smugly asked as Gray dropped into a stance._

 _"Oh I'll show you cold!" The younger boy declared, prompting the taller boy to match his stance._

 _"Boys, stop fighting and come here. And put some clothes on." Ur's voice called, interrupting their casting. The two boys glared at each other one more time before they did what their teacher told them. Unsurprisingly, Lyon got dressed faster and eagerly ran towards Ur._

 _"You called, Master Ur?" He asked brightly while Gray approached them with a bored look._

 _"We're gonna need some supplies for the next days, there's a snowstorm on the way. Can I count on you two?" The raven haired woman asked, and Lyon nodded vividly._

 _"Leave it to me! I don't even need Gray's help!" The white haired boy declared._

 _"Who says I want to go with you? Is there something else I can do?" Gray asked, doing his best to ignore Lyon while focusing on Ur, who looked in thought._

 _"We do need more timber…" She muttered and Gray didn't wait for her finish, instead he turned to get the axe._

 _'The sooner I'm done with that errant, the faster I'll go back to sleep. If that idiot wants to go back and forth from the village to impress Ur, let him do it.' The dark haired boy thought as he got to work. It was on the third tree, when Gray felt eyes on his back and turned around, coming face to face with a masked priest._

Gray suddenly woke up on a cold and hard floor.

'A dream?' He mused as he looked around, noticing that he was in a library of all places. The dark haired man got up and ascended a stone staircase, his eyes widening as he realised that he was on an island, one of many, while a starry sky spread beneath him.

"Edolas? No, that's not it. All magic disappeared from that place back then. So where is this?" Gray pondered before the spectre's words came to mind and he felt pain in his chest. However, before he could dwell on them, the sounds of footsteps distracted him from his thoughts, and the ice mage dropped into a fighting stance.

"It can't be… Natsu?"

* * *

"Ugh, what the hell did that creep do?" Natsu groaned as he got up from his crouching position. "Are you okay, Hotaru?"

When he got no response, the rose haired man looked up to notice that the young girl was nowhere in sight. What's more, he was standing on a corridor of light not unlike the path that he had once traversed to the Gate of Time and Space.

"Shit! Hotaru? Can you hear me?" Natsu shouted. That place was so vast, his voice almost instantly vanished in the void. Gritting his teeth, the rose haired man turned on his communicator, but all he got was static.

'I can't get a hold of anyone. Where did that guy send me? And where did he send Hotaru?' Natsu wondered, feeling worry for his daughter's safety and anger at himself for failing to keep her out of danger. He looked behind him, but the path stopped a couple of steps from him.

'Only one way to go…'

The rose haired man started moving, realizing he was out of options, while shouting Hotaru's name to no effect. Eventually he came across a stone pedestal that flowed with energy. Natsu eyed it for a while before sighing.

"What's the worst that can happen?" He mused before he touched it, getting teleported to a garden.

'That's one way of moving… wait, someone's ahead!'

Natsu started walking on his guard, not sure if the presence was of a friend or an enemy. What he didn't expect was Gray of all people to stand in front of him. His former teammate was older than the last time they met, bulkier and surprisingly with his clothes on.

"It can't be… Natsu?" The dark haired man exclaimed, but the memory of the replica that he once fought kept Natsu wary.

"Are you really Gray? Or just a ghost from my past?" The dragon slayer asked, and Gray looked stunned before he grew angry and slammed his hands in his signature pose, sending a dozen of lances at Natsu who started dodging.

'Too fast!' Natsu thought as he charged his hands with fire. "KARYU NO KAGIZUME!"

The wing like flames did their work, and Natsu landed on his feet while Gray prepared another attack.

"Hey Gray, what the hell are you thinking? It's me!" The dragon slayer shouted.

"What the hell am I thinking? It's you? You disappear for three years and you expect what?" Gray shouted back as he moulded a pair of swords and dashed at Natsu, who grew thoughtful.

'Three years, huh…' The dragon slayer mused while gathering a flame sphere in front of his chest and threw it at Gray. When the ice mage cut through the sphere, Natsu charged up, turning his fire into gauntlets and running to meet his former guildmate. The two mages clashed, swords against fists, and every hit was either parried or blocked before Natsu grabbed the swords and they stood in a deadlock.

"That's cold, even for you." The dragon slayer noted non challantly, angering Gray further.

"You… how can you not take this seriously? Do you have any idea how much Happy cried when he came to the guild and realised you were gone? How many months we spent looking for you? Some of us still do! And you are calm?" The ice mage furiously asked before he dropped his swords, headbutting Natsu twice before he uppercutted him with an ice coated fist that sent the dragon slayer to the ground. The dark haired man then grabbed him by the jacket.

"Why did you disappear?"

"Because I made a choice." Natsu responded, and Gray was so shocked by the calmness of the rose haired man's tone that he dropped him. "Have you calmed down now?"

"You… are you really Natsu?"

"What a heated exchange! That's the spirit!" A familiar voice suddenly said, and Natsu snapped, unleashing a breath attack at its direction.

"Tsk! The coward is just a spectre." The dragon slayer noted as the creepy masked man came out of the fire completely unharmed.

"Why so hostile, Natsu Dragneel?" The black haired man mockingly asked, earning a death glare from Natsu.

"Cut the crap, you bastard! Where is Hotaru?" Natsu demanded.

"Is the girl the only thing on your mind?" The masked man wondered with a smirk. "She is here, along with others who were drawn to this place."

"What is this place?" Gray asked and the masked man extended his arms theatrically.

"Allow me to welcome you to Phantasma. You'll get all your answers if you clear the paths." He cryptically said before disappearing. The moment he did, Natsu turned and started walking towards a path, prompting Gray to go after him.

"Hey, Natsu! Wait a minute!" The dark haired man called, getting in front of Natsu.

"Sorry, Gray. We can catch up later. I can't waste time." The rose haired man said while getting past Gray.

"Is that Hotaru the reason you disappeared?" Gray asked, causing Natsu to stop walking.

"One of the reasons." Natsu said and Gray cocked an eyebrow.

"I can't believe I'm asking this but, is she your girlfriend?" The dark haired man pressed, and this time Natsu fully turned to look at him with a mortified look.

"What? No!" He exclaimed before he took a breath. "She's my daughter. It's complicated."

The rose haired man then resumed walking, while Gray stood still, processing what he just heard.

"What did you do these past three years?"

* * *

After a couple of dead ends, the two mages walked down the last path in silence. Gray glanced at Natsu; while he was still tense after that weird guy's appearance, his features were less fierce than when he was in Fairy Tail.

'Like it has been a while since he last fought a battle. Has it really been just three years? It feels like longer. That guy was dense to the most obvious flirting and now he has a daughter?' The dark haired man pondered as they arrived in a circular area, with a stone pedestal on the other side.

"I used one of these things to come here." Natsu noted before he started moving towards the pedestal, however, Gray felt a malicious presence coming from above.

"Fall back, Natsu!" The ice mage shouted while creating a bow, and Natsu barely got out of the way as a giant demonic spider body slammed the spot he was standing.

"What's that? I didn't smell it at all!" The dragon slayer growled while jumping back to avoid a claw attack. The spider lunged in the air and disappeared after that, avoiding Gray's ice arrows.

"It has a cloaking technique, I've fought a demon like this before." Gray explained while looking around.

"What do you mean demons?" Natsu exclaimed as the two mages stood back to back, the dragon slayer charging his hands while Gray created another arrow.

"It's complicated." Was the ice mage's response before he was again the first to act, aiming high while the arrow glowed.

"ICE MAKE: ARROW!" He yelled, launching his projectile with great force. The giant spider threw venom to melt the arrow, but Gray's attack passed through and pierced the demon in the belly. Meanwhile, Natsu dashed high, rising above the wounded enemy.

"KARYU NO SENSUI!" The dragon slayer yelled, forming a blade of fire in his hand and slamming at the spider with it, defeating it. Just as the spider exploded into energy, the way to the pedestal is sealed by a barrier, while a gold shard manifested on the ground.

"What's that?" Gray asked as Natsu got a hold of the shard.

"There's something familiar about it." Natsu noted before his eyes widened.

 _Return to the garden where you were reunited. Find the stone at its centre and raise the shard to open the path._

'A woman?' Natsu thought.

"Did you hear that voice too?" Gray asked, earning a nod from Natsu. The duo then went back from the same path they took.

"Remember what the bastard said earlier about others being here? I've a feeling we know the others." Natsu mused as the garden came into view.

"You mean the shard?" Gray enquired.

"It's our only clue."

Like the voice said, the two mages found a stone pillar in the centre of the garden. Natsu raised the shard, which shined as it levitated in the air before gaining form.

"It's… a girl. Do you recognise her?" Gray asked and Natsu nodded.

"Looks like I was right."

The glowing figure descended to the ground, revealing a young woman with shoulder length dark blue hair, wearing a green knee high skirt, buttoned white shirt with a pink jacket, and simple black shoes. She opened her eyes, which were adorned by reading glasses, as if she awoke from a slumber, revealing aqua blue eyes.

"What happened?" She wondered, blinking in mild confusion.

"We're in a place called Phantasma. Ami, what's the last thing you remember?" Natsu asked and the bluenette turned to him, then to Gray.

"Natsu? Is there a new enemy?" She asked back.

"Looks like it, but we know nothing about them." The rose haired man said before he pointed at Gray. "This is Gray. He's from Fairy Tail. And the guy who sent me here felt like a mage as well, that's no coincidence."

"Are mages not common where you are?" Gray wondered, surprised.

"Few people know about magic." Ami explained before she looked in thought. "What do I remember? I was in the library reading, then a light appeared and next thing I remember is appearing here."

"So no weird people in masks? Voices in your head?" Natsu queried.

"There was a bald man with a deer on a leash and a kid in a cape, but I don't think they were dangerous." The bluenette answered.

'A deer? It must be a different culture thing.' Gray thought, noting Natsu's lack of reaction to that fact.

"Anyway, there are people who got brought here without even coming in contact with whatever attacked us. This leaves us with more questions than answers." The dark haired man noted instead.

"Let's hope that the barrier went down when we freed Ami. But first, can you use your pen? We need to be sure that you can fight." Natsu pointed out.

"A pen?" Gray repeated, confused, while Ami nodded and took out a strange stick that she pointed high.

"MERCURY PLANET POWER! MAKE UP!" The bluenette yelled as she was surrounded by a blinding light that caused Gray to shield his eyes, while Natsu grinned. The light dissipated, and the dark haired man's confusion gave way to surprise as Ami stood in front of him, clad in a blue and white sailor fuku.

"Transformation magic?" He exclaimed in wonder.

"More or less. I need my pen to transform." Mercury clarified.

"We can talk about the rest on the way." Natsu interjected, earning nods from both.

* * *

The trio arrived at the platform where they fought the spider earlier. To their relief, the barrier did disappear, opening the way to the pedestal.

"At least we got that answered. Rescuing people opens paths." Gray noted.

"Is it that simple?" Natsu mused. "Setsuna was looking for something, and Haruka wanted to keep us out of it. That masked guy also had some kind of dark magic.

"You think someone crossed through?" Mercury asked.

"Yeah, and I fear for our friend." Natsu admitted, clenching his fists. "Next time we find that bastard, I will make him talk."

"I understand you're worried, but calm down. It's too early to tell anything." Gray tried to get his former teammate to cool off, and Natsu took a deep breath.

'He's right. It won't help to lose my cool in this place.' The rose haired man thought as they used the pedestal and teleported to a stone paved road. The place reminded Natsu of Magnolia, but looking around he noticed some tall buildings.

"This looks like Crocus. Does that mean Phantasma can recreate entire cities?" Gray wondered.

"It looks that way. I haven't been to the capital in years though." Natsu said as Mercury activated her goggles.

"We are the only humans as far as I can scan. There's hostile signal that's coming towards us, and a big power spike to the west." The bluenette informed the mages.

"I think I know where that spike comes from, but we'll worry about that later. Here they come!" Gray said as a group of ogre like monsters appeared in the distance, running towards the trio with their clubs raised. Natsu and Gray dashed at the same time, gathering magic in their hands.

"KARYU NO SAIGA!"

"ICE MAKE: HAMMER!"

Their attacks took out a good amount of the ogres, and the two mages began beating up the rest with their fists. Mercury, meanwhile, observed the way the two fought, noticing that even after all these years they were working well together. Suddenly, one of the ogres tried to blindside Natsu, and the bluenette took action.

"SHINE SNOW ILLUSION!" She yelled, unleashing a snow blast that froze that ogre and those around it, just as Natsu turned around.

"Thanks, Mercury! KARYU NO KOEN!" The dragon slayer yelled, destroying the last enemies with a blazing sphere.

"That's all of them for now." Mercury informed them as she approached the duo.

"Talk about a warm welcome." Gray scoffed before he turned to Mercury. "That scanning looks way more advanced than what Hibiki does. It's not just magic, right?"

"I don't know what this Hibiki does, but I use my powers to enhance this." Mercury explained while pointing at her goggles. "And your ice magic is different from Natsu's dragon slaying magic. It's not purely destructive, but relies on your creativity. Am I wrong?"

"I'm not surprised Natsu talked about being a dragon slayer. You're not wrong though, my magic is not just for combat. It's called molding magic, and I can create as many things as my imagination can think of. But don't think that means I can't hold my own in a fight." The dark haired man explained, grinning at the last part while Mercury listened intently. Natsu, who watched the two talking about their skills, was reminded of when Gray explained his magic to Lucy. Leaving the two to their talk, he jumped on a building that overlooked the city.

'Even if it's a replica, I'm still seeing a part of Earthland.' The rose haired man thought, letting the scenery sink in before he talked.

"Everyone must be very mad at me."

"Yeah, you'd get a lot of punches and slaps before they dogpiled you." Gray admitted as he joined Natsu in observing the city, earning a chuckle from the rose haired man. Mercury observed the two, then turned to the city as well.

'Natsu has become such an important part of our group that it's easy to forget he once led an entirely different life. How will it affect him when we find more people from Earthland?'

* * *

"It looks like a coliseum." Mercury noted as they approached the large building from which the large reading came.

"The kingdom decided to hold a guild tournament called the Grand Magic Games last year. Every guild who participates sends a team of five mages and a sixth as reserve, and they have to pass the preliminaries to advance to the main stage where the eight guilds that pass battle to show the strongest." Gray explained.

"A battle to prove the strongest… some from our group would be interested in that." Mercury noted.

"So who did you send?" Natsu asked.

"Me, Erza, Gajeel, Freed, and Juvia, and Cana was our reserve. It was fun." Gray answered and Natsu nodded as if expecting that team. The trio then went inside the building.

"Well, this just got weird." Gray noted as they came upon the sight of a glowing, bronze door that stood on its own.

"You mean the demon infested city wasn't weird?" Natsu commented with sarcasm while Mercury scanned the door.

"I have no idea what this is. There's no visible way to open it so it needs magic. But what kind of magic?" She muttered to herself.

"We can't use force either. Michiru or Setsuna would find the way easily…" Natsu trailed off. Meanwhile, Gray didn't pay attention to the others' thoughts, feeling the door calling to him.

 _Only the man who came from the snow covered east may pass._

"That voice again?" Natsu exclaimed.

"So that's how it is. This door is a trial, and only one person can undergo it." Mercury noted in realisation before she glanced from one man to the other. "But does it refer to one of you?"

"It's me." Gray simply said as he opened the door with a mere touch, showering everyone with light. Before he passed through, the dark haired man heard Mercury wishing him luck.

'That place looks familiar.' Gray thought as he found himself not the arena, but on a moonlit room. Looking outside, he noticed that he was on top of a tower that was surrounded by a turbulent sea. The sound of metallic footstep got his attention, and the ice mage turned to face a large suit of armour, more than twice his height, that wielded a sword and radiated purple energy.

"A magic knight!" He exclaimed before he rolled out of the way to dodge a heavy swing from his foe that took out a good part of the wall. 'That was close!'

The ice mage dropped into a stance, not letting the knight get the upper hand.

"ICE MAKE: LANCE! ICE MAKE: FLYING SAUCER!" He yelled, launching attacks in quick succession in an attempt to overpower the hulking armour, but the knight simply powered through the first barrage and deflected the second with its sword. That tactic still gave him an opening, and Gray jumped high in the air while preparing another move.

"ICE MAKE: DEATH SCYTHE!" The ice mage yelled as he created a large scythe with which he cut off the magic knight's sword arm and half of its torso. Gray, slightly out of breath after three moves in succession, turned to his opponent who dropped on its knee, but he groaned when the animated armour got up, not only regenerating the lost parts but growing another set of arms and swords.

"Really?" The dark haired mage exclaimed before he brought up a shield to stop the enhanced knight's assault. His makeshift defence was no match, and he found himself face to helmet with the animated armour.

"What a pain! ICE MAKE: GEYSER!" Gray yelled while slamming his hands on the ground, trapping his foe in a spiky geyser. "And-" He added as he jumped above the knight. "ICE MAKE: PRISON!"

However, before Gray can complete the entrapment, the magic knight exploded in purple energy, sending the ice mage through the ceiling. The Fairy Tail mage quickly created a grappling hook to avoid falling off the tower and got on the top.

"Wait a minute! That's the Tower of Heaven!" He looked around in realisation before a crackle of energy forced his attention back to the knight, which held its swords in an X shape and charged a purple sphere.

"Alright you big chunk of metal, let's end this!" The ice mage shouted, getting into a stance while creating spikes all around his limbs. He dashed at the knight just as it launched the sphere, cutting through the attack while spinning.

"HYOJIN: NANA RENBU!" Gray yelled, slashing the magic knight repeatedly and destroying it. The suit of armour exploded into energy, revealing another shard. The dark haired mage picked it up before being engulfed in light.

* * *

"I wonder if Gray-san is alright." Mercury pondered. After a quick scanning of the rest of the building, Natsu and she had found a bench to sit while waiting for the dark haired man.

"Gray is a tough guy. There's no way he'll lose." Natsu reassured the bluenette, who looked in thought.

"How close were you with Gray-san?" She asked, and Natsu smiled wryly.

"When we were younger, there wasn't a day that we didn't bicker, fight or coming up with insults. Even when we grew up, we were at each other's throats over the smallest things, but Gray had my back and I had his. Kinda like Rei and Usagi, except those two don't have an Erza to try and keep them in line." The rose haired man reminisced, and Mercury noticed that his expression got warmer at the memories.

"And Erza-san is?" She enquired.

"The other member of our team. Well, there was also Happy, and eventually Lucy, Wendy, Charle, and technically Gajeel joined us, but me, Gray, and Erza were more or less inseparable since we were kids. Anyway, Erza is a year older than us, so she tried to act like an older sister; stopping us from fighting, making sure we ate properly. She even helped me improve my reading." Natsu said before stopping in sudden realisation. "Now that I think about it, I didn't notice it then, but Gray might have had a crush on Erza. I wonder if he still likes her."

"It looks like being around us girls has given you a new perspective, Natsu. I still remember when the others had to spell out Michiru-san and Haruka-san's closeness." Mercury joked.

"I'll never stop getting teased over that, will I?" Natsu sighed, causing Mercury to giggle. Suddenly the door was opened, revealing Gray, and Natsu grinned while Mercury sighed in relief.

"Told ya he'll be fine." The rose haired man said.

"I'm glad you made it, Gray-san. It must have been a tough opponent for you to lose your shirt." The Senshi commented and Natsu barely held back laughing at the honest and innocent way the bluenette spoke while Gray looked down to notice that, yes, he was shirtless, then facepalmed.

"At least you've gotten better at keeping your clothes on." The rose haired man added drily as he threw a dark blue shirt at Gray, who eyed it suspiciously.

"Do I want to know where that came from?" The dark haired man asked.

"From one of the lockers obviously." Natsu deadpanned.

"Does this happen often?" Mercury wondered.

"It's just a leftover from my training. But never mind that, I got another shard. And that door sent me to the Tower of Heaven." Gray quickly changed the subject.

"That place? Then if the person on the shard is related to where we find them, this will be a mage." Natsu mused, earning a nod from Gray who finally put the shirt on.

"That's what I thought too. There's only one way to find out."

* * *

 **A** **uthor's** **Note: So I'd been thinking of the first reunion scene a lot, and the best I could come up is that it would be interesting to see Gray the ice mage reacting with more emotion than Natsu the fire mage. Like, Natsu knows that Gray is angry for a good reason so he wanted his friend to take out that anger, while having Gray see that it's been a long time since he last saw Natsu and realising that he kinda changed. And of course Natsu dropping the first bomb.**

 **Then there was the "who will be the first person they find." to ponder. I decided on Ami since while not exactly a heavy hitter, she can notice and analyse things. Ah, that's not very eloquent, but you know what I mean. Probably. Until next time.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:  
Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha Comics  
Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima and Kodansha Comics**

"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
 _Flashback_

The Dragon and the Senshi: A mysterious world

Chapter 2

Gray raised the shard, which shone as it levitated above the stone altar.

"It's a girl again." Natsu noted as the shard took form. "But I have no idea who she is."

"I do. But why is she here?" Gray wondered as the light dissipated, revealing a young woman with long, raven hair that reached he lower back, adorned by a white ribbon that was styled like rabbit ears, a short black and white yukata, and straw sandals. Notably, she carried a katana on her waist. The raven haired woman opened her dark brown eyes, and unlike Ami she immediately reacted by jumping back while putting her hand on the hilt of her blade.

"Only a coward sneaks up on his opponent with tricks of light! Show yourself!" She challenged an unknown foe as Gray stepped forward.

"Nobody's after you here, Kagura. Not directly at least. But judging from your reaction, were you attacked by someone before you appeared here?" He asked and Kagura turned her attention to him.

"Gray-san? I thought you were on an S rank mission with Nee-sama." The raven haired woman questioned, still on her guard.

"Nee-sama?" Natsu repeated.

"Kagura is from the same village as Erza." Gray answered before he turned to Natsu and grinned. "As for the S rank mission, I was responsible for it. Because I've been an S class mage for over a year."

Natsu grinned back as he got in Gray's face.

"Does the S stand for stripper?" He asked as the two butted heads. "S rank or not, let's go for a few rounds. You'll see that I'm not as behind as you might think."

"You know, I haven't said anything so far, but you talk funny. Did you eat a dictionary?" Gray snarked back.

"So that's what Natsu meant." Mercury noted curiously, while Kagura looked as if she remembered something.

"Pink hair, loud voice, argues with Gray-san. Are you Natsu Dragneel-san?" The raven haired woman wondered, earning Natsu's attention.

"Yeah. Have we met?" He asked.

"No, but I have heard about you. I thought you disappeared." Kagura said, then turned to Mercury. "And I have no idea who you are while we're at it."

Natsu and Mercury glanced at each other before she cancelled her transformation.

"My name is Mizuno Ami. Natsu has been helping me and my comrades to fight an enemy that threatened the world." The bluenette explained.

"Gray said that you are from the same village as Erza. Were you in the Tower as well?" Natsu added and Kagura smiled bitterly.

"Nee-sama saved me from that fate at the cost of her getting captured, but that doesn't mean that tower didn't ruin my life. My brother Simon was in the Tower." She answered, causing Natsu to look at the ground.

"Simon… if not for him we wouldn't have made it back then." The rose haired man muttered, remembering the time Erza was kidnapped.

"Yeah. That also explains the place Kagura was sealed." Gray noted. Kagura looked from one mage to the other before she finally relaxed.

"I'm not sure what's going on. You asked if someone attacked me? That's what I thought too, but it seems I was somehow brought here and you don't look like you know more." The raven haired woman said.

"For the moment we are rescuing others who are still trapped while trying to find out more." Ami explained and Kagura nodded.

"Should I assume that Nee-sama is here as well? Then what are we waiting for?"

* * *

Another skeleton was brought down by Kagura, who ran ahead of the group. Two more monsters tried to block her way, but she grabbed her scabbard in her right hand and spun, taking them out with both sword and scabbard.

"Calm down, Kagura!" Gray urged the younger woman.

"I will when we find Nee-sama!" The swordswoman shouted back before she sped up.

"Kagura-san really likes Erza-san." Mercury commented.

"She's worse than Makoto and her Haruka-senpai." Natsu added before his eyes widened. "That's not good."

Kagura turned right, coming face to face with an abomination that she slashed so swiftly, to the naked eye it looked like she didn't even draw her sword. Another monster came from behind, but she turned and extended her left hand, trapping it in a gravity field. What Natsu saw, however, was a third monster about to blindside the younger woman, so he blasted it with a flaming sphere before Gray finished it off with an ice arrow and Mercury destroyed the trapped monster with a water blast. Kagura let her hand drop as the trio reached her.

"I told you to calm down. I'm worried about Erza too, but that doesn't mean we should charge blindly." Gray scolded the younger woman, who looked away.

"I shouldn't have rushed ahead, but we got a reading." Kagura admitted, causing Gray to sigh.

"I understand how you feel, you know." The dark haired man said before he patted Kagura's head.

"Now this is something new. Gray wasn't much for comforting girls with his body." Natsu noted. The two girls and Gray turned to stare at him blankly and the rose haired man took a moment to realise what he just said. "You know what I mean."

"A-Anyway, we should move on. I promise to not run ahead again." Kagura said and the group resumed their path, eventually reaching a greenhouse. Gray cocked an eyebrow, noticing that both Mercury and Natsu looked alarmed at the sight of the large building.

"This building is from Tokyo." Mercury noted.

"How is this possible? Does Phantasma mix places?" Natsu mused.

"I'm sorry, what's Tokyo?" Kagura asked and Gray nodded, narrowing his eyes.

"I've never heard of it either." He added. Natsu and Mercury glanced at each other before the rose haired man sighed and scratched his head.

"Think Edolas, only farther." He cryptically said before turning back to the greenhouse. "No doubt about it, one of the girls is inside. Let's go."

Natsu knew that naturally they'd have to explain the real situation to Gray and the mages, like the fact that Tokyo wasn't just a place in a different continent, but they needed to put that aside for now.

'And ideally, we find Setsuna soon. I'm not sure how much I can tell them without breaking the taboo.' He inwardly added as he opened the door, finding himself not in a greenhouse, but a forest that shouldn't fit in the building.

"Well, this is cosy." Gray commented as the rest followed suit. He seemed to accept Natsu's vague answer, so the group wordlessly went down the only path available. The farther inside they got, the stronger they felt like they were led on. Sooner than they expected, they found a shard floating inside a cage of tree branches.

"Were the previous shards as easy to get as this?" Kagura asked.

"No, so expect a trap." Gray warned as Natsu collected the shard. Right on cue, the forest came alive, with treants forming a circle around the mages and Senshi and launching vines at them.

"ICE MAKE: WALL!" Gray yelled, blocking the attacks that came from behind with a large wall of ice while Mercury concentrated, gathering ice in her hand.

"MERCURY ICICLE NOVA!" The Senshi yelled, launching a sphere that exploded in the other direction and freezing the tree monsters. Natsu and Kagura followed suit, destroying the frozen treants and opening a path out of the forest.

* * *

"So what did you make of this?" Gray asked as the group was on their way to the stone altar.

"We've fought trees that were brought to life before. Same goes for that demon spider that appeared earlier when we got Ami's shard. That's no coincidence." Natsu pointed out.

"Places that we know of, but warped. Enemies we've fought before. The mystery thickens." Mercury mused.

"What about my shard?" Kagura wondered.

"I fought a magic knight. So that's another enemy that we've seen before." Gray answered, and Mercury perked up.

"Magic knight?" She repeated curiously

"Large suits of armour that are powered by magic. They appeared about a year after Natsu disappeared." The dark haired man continued.

"The council is looking at the reason for their appearance, but they have made no progress." Kagura added, though Natsu noticed that Gray's face showed that he knew something that he wasn't sharing. Seeing as he himself was in a similar situation, the rose haired man didn't comment on it and turned to the altar that came within their sight. When they approached it, he raised the shard, and as it glowed his suspicion was confirmed as the shard revealed a tall brunette with a long, high ponytail, dressed in a black turtleneck, forest green knee length skirt and slipper like shoes as well as an apron.

"Another one of your friends?" Gray asked Mercury, who nodded as she smiled at the brunette's appearance. The newcomer opened her eyes, revealing emerald orbs, and blinked.

"That's odd. Where did the kitchen go?" She wondered.

"I hope you weren't frying anything, Makoto." Natsu said.

"No I was still in the cutting…" Makoto started before she cut herself short. "Wait a minute, this isn't my house."

The brunette looked around until her eyes fell on Gray.

"Who's the half-naked man?"

"Damn it, Gray!" Natsu exclaimed as Gray frantically looked for his shirt. Kagura shook her head disapprovingly before she turned to Makoto.

"This indecent man is Gray Fullbuster, and I am Kagura Mikazuchi. And your name is?" She said, ignoring Gray's complaints.

"Kino Makoto." Makoto answered, still confused. "Can someone explain what's going on?"

"First things first." Natsu started, completely serious. "What were you making?"

"Sashimi from salmon. I found a good deal at the fishmarket. But what does that have to do with anything?" Makoto asked back.

"Just curious." The rose haired man said. Mercury then stepped forward and started explaining the situation to her fellow Senshi. Meanwhile, Natsu realised that Gray looked like he was waiting for the right time to ask something, so he braced himself.

"I see. So two different people attacked Natsu and Gray-san and brought us all here. Does that mean they know of Natsu's mission?" Makoto wondered.

"It's possible. The real question is why they would drag all of us here." Mercury added.

"You know, I've thought of this earlier, but are you from a different world?" Gray asked.

"Yes, but don't ask more, for now at least." Natsu answered before Mercury or Makoto talked. Gray frowned, but didn't delve farther.

"A different world? How is this possible?" Kagura asked.

"What matters is who would know about this in Earthland." Natsu said, mentally adding, "Because whoever can breach the Gate of Time and Space is dangerous for both worlds.'

* * *

"So this is the capital? It really looks different from Tokyo." Jupiter noted as the group traversed through the city.

"It's not just the capitals, Japan is far more advanced than Fiore. But the magic can make up for it in most things." Natsu pointed out.

"Define advanced." Kagura said, intrigued, and the rose haired man looked in thought.

"You know those cars that need your magic to move? In Japan, cars are more widely used and need some sort of liquid fuel to work." He started explaining before scratching his chin. "I'm not sure how good of an example that was."

While the two mages talked, Mercury looked around with fascination.

"I'm not sure how to describe the city. The buildings look… late medieval maybe? Though they're probably more modern on the inside since Natsu didn't have that big of a cultural shock." The bluenette muttered, while Jupiter just watched her, not sure what to say.

Meanwhile, Gray had fallen behind, lost in his thoughts.

'A different world, huh? That explains a lot of things. Natsu vanished because he left Earthland to help these girls. And that guy even had a daughter, so it must have been one hell of a girl to get that idiot's heart. That's why he stayed there, and if he can't get into details, it's probably some sort of rule.' The dark haired man pondered before he furrowed his brows. 'So who took him from this peaceful life? Who decided to trap us in this place? I'll admit, that way I got an answer about Natsu's disappearance for everyone back at the guild, but we have to get out first. And to do that, we have to fight those two…'

"I can see what Nee-sama meant." Kagura said and Gray got brought back to reality, noticing that he had put a hand on his chest while he was thinking. He dropped the hand and focused on the younger woman.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Both the furrowing brows thing and that hand movement. She said that you do that lately." Kagura elaborated before she gave him a small smile. "I may not be her, but I can listen. Are you thinking about the other world?"

"To be honest, I'm not that surprised by that. We've been looking for Natsu for years, so that possibility came up at one point." Gray admitted.

"So you do know about other worlds. I find it difficult to believe, but the cryptids that appeared in Fiore do give off an otherworldly feeling." Kagura mused.

"Hey, you two! We found a portal!" Natsu called, and the duo cut their conversation short before they ran to catch up the others who stood in front of a circle.

"Another portal. Why is this different?" Mercury wondered.

"Maybe they thought we would get bored of the pedestals." Gray deadpanned before he stepped into the circle, which started glowing. The others quickly followed, and the portal sent them in the middle of a forest.

"Natsu, do you recognise this place?" Gray asked.

"It sure takes me back, Galuna Island." Natsu mused.

"Galuna Island? That place where an ogre tribe lives?" Kagura asked.

"Ogres?" Jupiter repeated.

"Yeah, they were friendly though. We helped break a curse that they had a long time ago." Gray explained.

"Not friendly people approaching." Mercury warned as a group of monsters that resembled a cross between apes and sheep came at them. The party got ready to fight, however Jupiter stepped up.

"Allow me. FLOWER HURRICANE!" The brunette yelled as she crossed her hands, bringing forth a field of petals that paralysed her enemies. She then pointed at the sky, which started getting cloudy.

"My Guardian Planet Jupiter! Let the storm rage on! Let the lightning strike!" The soldier of thunder chanted, gathering lightning from the now stormy sky before she pointed at the trapped monsters. "JUPITER THUNDERBOLT!"

The bolts completely annihilated the enemy, but what impressed Gray was Jupiter's precision, since despite the power that the attack had, there was no collateral damage in the form of charred trees. The group started walking after that.

"Your attacks have become more powerful." Natsu grinned and the brunette smiled with pride.

"It looks like training with Haruka-senpai in judo made me stronger as a Senshi too." Jupiter said.

"Is your senpai strong?" Kagura asked.

"I'm physically stronger, but she still wins most of our matches. You can say she has many skills, so I'm trying to keep up with her." Jupiter answered honestly, and Kagura pondered that before she turned to Natsu.

"You know both of them. Who's stronger, Nee-sama or Haruka-san?" The raven haired woman wondered. Natsu looked from Kagura, to Jupiter who had also turned her attention to him, to Mercury who tried to feign indifference but definitely paid attention as well, and sweatdropped.

"Uh, I don't know how strong Erza is now, so… oh look, the village!" The rose haired man exclaimed, pointing at the ogre village.

'Smooth.' Gray drily thought before he noticed that the village was devoid of people, except for two familiar mages.

"What are two Lamia Scale mages doing here?" Kagura wondered.

"They must be part of a trial." Mercury theorised.

"You guys smell like those guys that were with Lyon, yet at the same time you don't. Are you replicas?" Natsu asked.

"Not exactly. The girl is right though, we are part of the trial." The bushy browed mage verified.

"So you were summoned as obstacles by Phantasma." Gray realised before he smiled wryly. "Here I thought we'd only fight monsters."

"Hey you, Salamander! Where the hell have you been?" The dog like mage suddenly shouted, startling Jupiter and Mercury while Natsu started laughing.

"Oh I have a feeling I'll get that a lot." The rose haired man said before he started walking ahead. "Hey, Gray. You don't mind if I handle this?"

"Be my guest. No offense to these guys, but I'll be worried if you can't handle them on your own." The dark haired man said.

"In case you've forgotten, we're Yuka and Toby of Lamia Scale. And we have gotten stronger since the time we fought, Salamander!" Yuka declared, causing Natsu to grin.

"So have I!" The dragon slayer shouted as he dashed at the two. Yuka extended his hands, creating a blue coloured barrier with the aim to seal Natsu's magic, but to his surprise the dragon slayer closed the gap and kneed him in the face, staggering him. Pressing the opening, Natsu grabbed the Lamia Scale mage by the shoulders and drove another knee in the shorter man's midsection before he spun him around and threw him on top of Toby who tried to sneak attack the former Fairy Tail mage. He then charged his hands and ran towards the downed duo.

"DISPEL!" Yuka yelled in an attempt to stop Natsu's advance, but the dragon slayer simply swept away the anti-magic with one hand while bringing down the other.

"KARYU NO SAIGA!" He yelled, striking the Lamia Scale mages with a flaming claw and defeating them.

"The gap is too big after all." Tobi said, groaning as Yuka and he started glowing to the party's surprise.

"I think we were beaten even harder than last time." Yuka added as he slowly got up. "But it's fine. You guys are going to need strength in the battles to come."

And with that they disappeared, leaving behind a portal similar to the one that brought the group to the island. Natsu crouched, inspecting the portal while the others caught up to him.

"Now we have to fight people that we know too in order to proceed." Kagura noted.

"You think we'll see someone from our world too?" Jupiter asked Mercury, who nodded.

"I'm sure of it. It's safe to say we wouldn't be here otherwise." The bluenette pointed out. Gray, meanwhile, just exchanged a look with Natsu.

'Tower of Heaven, Galuna Island. Someone really wants to send us down memory lane.' The dark haired man thought.

* * *

The next place the group warped to was the foothills of a volcano. The girls stared at the volcano in wonder, seeing it for the first time, while Natsu turned to Gray who had grown pale, for he knew the significance of the place to his friend.

"Do you need to take a break, Gray-san? You look tired." Jupiter asked, being the first to notice the mage's condition. Gray jolted at the question, his mind clearly elsewhere.

"I'm fine, just a bit sentimental." The dark haired man answered before he walked towards the entrance of the volcano. The others followed after him wordlessly, giving him time to sort his thoughts. Soon, they reached a chamber, where they came upon their next opponents.

"Am I the only one who sees double?" Natsu asked, confused, as their opponents this time were a pair of pinkettes that looked almost identical, except the twintailed one was shorter than the ponytail one.

"You look strong, but you don't sound very bright." The shorter pinkette commented, earning a chuckle from the taller one.

"Now now, Cheria. Natsu-san just got stunned because he hasn't seen me in a long time." She joked while winking playfully at Natsu.

"Thanks, but I already have a dance partner." The rose haired man declared, causing the tall pinkette to raise her eyebrows in surprise.

"Is that so? Sounds like you've been busy." She said in a slightly more serious tone.

"You know, I still haven't gotten used to Natsu saying lines like that." Jupiter whispered to Mercury.

"I know. Though they can be useful…" Mercury said before cutting herself, turning slightly red while Jupiter looked surprised.

"Anyway, in case you don't remember her, this is Sherry Blendy. And the shorter one is her cousin Cheria." Gray introduced the duo, causing Cheria to puff her cheeks.

"I'm not short, I'm still growing!" The young girl exclaimed, and Gray chuckled.

"Sorry, I'm not belittling you." He said, but that annoyed the pinkette even more.

"There, you called me little again!"

"Cheria, calm down." Kagura who had been silent so far said, earning the younger girl's attention.

"Oh, Kagura-chan! It's been a while!" Cheria beamed at the raven haired woman, who smiled back in a more reserved manner before she turned to Gray.

"Gray-san, leave this to me." The swordmage requested, and Gray looked momentarily surprised before he nodded in agreement. As the raven haired woman approached the Lamia Scale mages, Jupiter turned her attention to Cheria.

"The younger cousin, she's much stronger than she looks." The brunette noted.

"It feels similar to Natsu's magic. Do you know what it is, Gray-san?" Mercury asked.

"Yes, it's a rare and dangerous kind of magic. I hope Kagura can hold her own." Gray said just as Kagura stopped walking.

"You know, I have no illusions of stopping all five of you with just the two of us, but this is reckless. Ask someone to team up with you so we'll be even." Sherry told Kagura who dropped into a stance.

"This is a test for me. Fighting with two people who have different kinds of magic will help me get stronger. Here I come!" Kagura shouted as she dashed forward. Sherry sighed before she summoned a magic circle beneath her feet.

"DOLL MAGIC: ROCK PUPPET!" The pinkette yelled, causing the floor in front of Kagura to split as a rock doll emerged and went for a punch. Kagura drew her blade and let a war cry, cutting the rock doll's hand and immediately front leaping, burying her sword in the doll's chest and causing it to fall apart.

"Like I said, reckless." Sherry said as Cheria appeared from behind the destroyed doll, having already charged her hands with black wind.

"TENJIN NO MAI!" The young pinkette yelled, swinging her arms like wings and forcing Kagura to bring up her sword to block the attack.

"Nice reflexes, Kagura-chan! How about this?" Cheria shouted as she grabbed the swordmage's katana with one hand while gathering a wind sphere in the other.

"TENJIN NO KADOU!"

"GRAVITY PUSH!" Kagura suddenly yelled at the same time, blowing away the wind mage's attack and sending her skidding back with her gravity. However, the force sent her back as well, and she lost her sword.

"Kagura-san is being pushed back!" Mercury commented while Natsu stared at the black winds with a sharp look.

"Gray, just what is that magic?" The dragon slayer asked.

"It's called God Slayer magic. And Cheria is not the only known user, a dark mage from the Baram Alliance and a guy from a new guild have this kind of lost magic too." Gray answered.

"God Slayer? That little girl?" Jupiter muttered in disbelief.

Back at the fight, Kagura dashed to get her sword back while keeping an eye on Cheria who glowed with magic.

'I have to keep Cheria from healing herself. No need to prolong this fight.' The swordmage thought as she rolled to get her sword then jumped, while Cheria gathered wind in her mouth.

"TENJIN NO DOGO!" The sky god slayer yelled, sending a breath attack at the swordmage, who let a war cry as she blocked the attack with her sword. The two battled for dominance for a while before Cheria stopped.

"You're just too fast, Kagura-chan. I can't land a single hit on you." Cheria huffed between panting, but Kagura knew that she had to turn the tables. Suddenly she looked down in shock, as a rug came to life and bound her.

"Did you really forget little me? That hurts my feelings, Kagura." Sherry said with a pout as two mud dolls appeared and tried to pummel the swordmage, when a barrage of lightning bolts took them down.

"When did she…" Gray started, not noticing Jupiter had moved. The sudden attack had surprised Sherry as well, and Kagura managed to free her sword arm and cut down the rug doll.

"I didn't ask for help." The swordmage said with a cool tone, causing Jupiter to laugh.

"My body moved on its own." The brunette said with a smirk. "That said, those cousins are pretty good. You won't be able to beat them on your own."

"Then I'll leave Sherry-san in your hands." Kagura simply said before she dashed at Cheria, causing Jupiter to shake her head in amusement.

"Proper and kinda aloof, but actually hot blooded. She even has long black hair. That girl is like Rei when we first met." The brunette commented to herself.

"So, what are you wearing?" Sherry asked, and Jupiter turned to her with a confused look.

"A sailor fuku?" She answered.

"You mean your sailors wear that?" The mage wondered incredulously, causing Jupiter to sweatdrop.

"No, it's inspired by sailor clothes… and you try to keep me busy while your dolls sneak up on me." The Senshi realised, earning an impressed smile.

"To be fair, I'm honestly interested in your clothes. They're cute." Sherry admitted.

"Huh." Jupiter simply said before she ducked, dodging a strike from a doll, then twisted her body to strike it with a lightning charged fist. However, the doll was made of wood and nullified the punch before responding in kind, hitting the brunette in the chest. Jupiter stepped back, and the doll went for another punch, but this time she grabbed it by the arm, using its momentum to slam it to the ground.

Meanwhile, Cheria tried to keep Kagura at range with a barrage of wind blasts, forcing the swordmage to use both sword and scabbard, spinning until she managed to close the gap. The god slayer's eyes widened, realising she was open, but to her surprise the raven haired woman struck her with the blunt side, sending the pinkette smashing on the wall. The Lamia Scale mage got up and healed herself again, though this time she winced.

"If you slashed me from that range, I'd be a goner." Cheria mused.

"This isn't a death match." Kagura said as she sheathed her sword. "But this battle is mine! GRAVITY SLAM!"

The raven haired mage brought her hand down, dropping the wall on Cheria who yelped before she got buried.

"Cheria!" Sherry called, but a breaking sound caught her attention as Jupiter drove a lightning infused dagger in the wood doll's chest, then buried it deeper with a spinning kick, destroying the puppet. The brunette didn't waste time, bolting towards the doll mage and slamming her to the ground with a judo drop.

"Wow, she wasn't kidding when she said she's strong." Gray commented.

"This reminds me of when she manhandled a youma without transforming." Mercury added nonchalantly, causing Gray to sweatdrop.

Back to the fight, Cheria shakily got out of the rubble before she fell on her butt.

"I'm out of magic. You win this one, Kagura-chan." The young pinkette said as the two cousins started glowing. The trio that didn't fight approached them while Sherry got up.

"You are strong, sailor girl. Looks can be deceiving." The older pinkette said before she got thoughtful. "But you won't be able to defeat the next opponent in a duel. That man is going to be the last trial of this plane. Gray-san, I'm sure you understand who he is."

"The last one, huh? Can't say I'm surprised." Gray noted.

"This was fun! Let's fight again when you leave Phantasma!" Cheria said before they disappeared, leaving a door behind.

"Plane? What did she mean?" Jupiter wondered.

"She meant that this is far from over. I'm beginning to get a sense of just what we've gotten dragged into." Natsu said, growing thoughtful. "I don't like this. It feels like we need to manage our strength while moving towards the unknown. What do those bastards have in mind?"

* * *

 **Author's Note: This is where the fun begins.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:  
Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha Comics  
Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima and Kodansha Comics**

"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
 _Flashback_

The Dragon and the Senshi: A mysterious world

Chapter 3

"Be careful against Jura. He hits fast and he hits hard. He may be a rock mage, but even Ami's water attacks have no advantage against him." Gray explained on the way to the summit of the volcano. "I'll take the lead, and attack when you see an opening. We must not let him control the fight."

"A rock mage? That's going to be tough." Jupiter noted as they reached the top, where Jura awaited them with his eyes closed. "Is that him? He looks like a monk."

"I have been waiting for you." The bald mage said before he opened his eyes and surveyed the party. "I see people I know, some unfamiliar faces, and one I never expected to see again. It's been a while, Natsu Dragneel."

"That it has. Nice beard." The rose haired man noted.

"I'm quite proud of it, in fact." Jura admitted while stroking his magnificent beard. He then turned to the Senshi. "And you, girls. I can sense something special about you. You have been through battles that your appearance belies. Interesting. You will make fine opponents."

"You look like a martial artist rather than a mage." Jupiter pointed out, smirking. "If this was a challenge, I accept it!"

"Sherry said something about planes. What do you know?" Gray asked, and Jura adopted a fighting stance.

"Beat me, and I shall tell you all I know. HA!" The rock mage let out a war cry as he struck the ground, causing a fissure that rapidly approached the group. The mages and Senshi were forced to jump in different directions, and Gray noticed walls erupting from the chasms.

"He's trying to separate us!" The ice mage realised.

"I already did. This is still a trial, Gray Fullbuster." Jura declared with a smirk as he got up. "Now, are you going to overcome the odds?"

Gray briefly looked around, noticing that the walls were very tall, easily more than seven meters tall in fact.

"That definitely took a lot of magic." The ice mage muttered to himself before he moulded a war axe and pointed it at Jura. "I always wanted to fight with you one on one, old man."

Jura smirked as he slammed his hands in response.

"GAN TETSU HASHIRA!" He yelled, launching iron stone pillars at the ice mage, who put his axe to work by smashing them.

Elsewhere, Mercury jumped back to avoid the lance that a stone golem threw at her, then at her opponent.

"MERCURY AQUA TORRENT!" The bluenette yelled, sending a whirlpool at the golem, which seemingly absorbed the attack. "So water is no good after all."

The statue smashed its hand inside the wall, taking another lance, but this time it tried to strike the Senshi from close. It was then that Mercury noticed her foe's movement was slowed down and she smirked.

"Let's see if you can absorb this! SNOW HALLATION!" The Senshi yelled as she raised her hands, summoning a flurry of diamond dust crystals that covered the surrounding area and freezing the golem's limbs. Despite that, the golem persisted in its advance, causing cracks to form on it, and its swing was so slow that Mercury dodged with ease.

"And now the finish! MERCURY AQUA SWEEP!" Mercury yelled, sending a slash like water attack with her hand and taking down her opponent. No sooner than her victory, she heard an explosion on the other side of the wall to her right.

"Mercury! Is that you?" She heard Natsu call. "These walls are too damn hard!"

Mercury inspected the wall, where Natsu appeared to try to take down.

'Is this really a test of strength?' She mused. 'At any rate, Natsu can't take the wall down by himself. The magic that made it is very strong.'

"Natsu!" The bluenette called. "Let's try to attack the same spot. The change in temperature might weaken it enough."

Back to Gray and Jura's fight, the rock mage used the narrow terrain to put Gray on the defensive by assaulting him from multiple directions.

"You're one of Fairy Tail's strongest! Don't tell me this is the extend of your power?" Jura goaded Gray while unleashing an avalanche of mud and stones at him. Gray's response was to create a large, portable shield, and he fended off the onslaught while moving forward. The bald mage realised the ice mage's intent to bring the fight to close quarters, so he stopped the avalanche and pointed his index and middle fingers at Gray.

"HAO GAN SAI!"

Gray's eyes widened, recognising the attack as the one that defeated Brain of Oracion Seis. The Fairy Tail mage twisted his body, throwing the shield with as much force as he could muster and crushing the incoming rocks. Jura, who had extended his palm to move the rocks in a certain formation, was forced to trigger the crushing effect earlier in order to stop the unlikely projectile of his opponent, causing an explosion that brought up smoke and dust. While he waited for the dust to settle, Jura realised that the temperature dropped significantly and smirked.

"That's quite the quick thinking." He noted as the dust dissipated, revealing the walls to be covered in ice, while Gray came at him with an ice encased fist. "But if you want to beat me, you need to be two steps ahead! GAN TETSU TOGE!"

Gray realised that Jura outthought him when spikes erupted from the ground while he was in mid air, exploding on touch and sending him higher.

'What was that move? My body is going numb!' The ice mage thought, willing himself to move while Jura slammed his hands.

"This is the end! GAN TETSU HASHIRA!" The Lamia Scale mage yelled, sending large iron stone pillars at the seemingly immobilised Fairy Tail mage. To his surprise, Gray managed to create a grappling hook in time to dodge the pillars by diving to the ground. At the same time, the ice covered rock walls exploded, and Jupiter and Kagura came at Jura from both sides with lightning and sword in hand.

"GAISUI!" Jura yelled, covering himself in rocks to block the attacks, but he understood too late that this was what the party planned when Natsu and Mercury prepared to strike from a distance.

"KARYU NO GAROUHOKO!"

"SHINE SNOW ILLUSION!"

The two attacks caught Jura in the middle, and his defences were destroyed by their intensity. However, the rock mage stood standing.

"It still wasn't enough? He's not a Wizard Saint for nothing." Kagura noted.

"ICE MAKE: CANNON!" Gray suddenly yelled, launching a blast that struck the stumbling rock mage, ending the fight. The ice mage dropped the moulded cannon, still numb from the previous attack, and Mercury ran to his side to help him up as Jura started glowing.

"That was a nice collaboration at the end. I knew you'd make it." The bald mage said.

"Working together to take down the walls. That was a hint to the trial?" Mercury mused.

"Perhaps. What's important is that you all made it out. Now, as I promised, I'm going to give any information I have. Starting with the most important. Jura said as he straightened his stance. "Phantasma is neither in any of your worlds, nor a connection between them. It's a separate world that consists of Planes like this one, each with a guardian. I'm sure you've realised it already, but the only way to leave is after overcoming all the trials before you."

"Can you tell us anything about the people who trapped us?" Gray asked, causing Jura to shake his head.

"Uncovering their identities and motives is something you have to do yourselves. Good luck." The Wizard Saint said before he disappeared, leaving behind another shard while the way to the pedestal got shut by a barrier. Natsu went to collect the shard, and both Gray and he jolted, realising that the threat's not over. Right on cue, a winged demon manifested from out of nowhere.

"What's that?" Kagura exclaimed, moving to take out her sword, but before anyone could attack the demon levitated and applied pressure on the party, as a big eye appeared above it.

'I can't move!' Gray realised before he noticed the monster gathering dark energy in its clawed hands. 'This is bad. I have no choice but to use that!'

To his surprise, Natsu was able to move before him, running at the demon while radiating silver flames. The demon roared, launching the dark energy at the dragon slayer who caught the attack.

"This is your grave, fiend!" The dragon slayer declared, shattering the sphere before he jumped at the demon while gathering fire in his hand.

"GETSUENRYU NO SAIGA!" He yelled, slashing the monster with a claw like silver flame and destroying it. Natsu landed on the ground, panting for a while before eventually dropping down as the rest realised they could move again.

"Was this dragon slaying magic?" Kagura wondered as Mercury examined the unconscious Natsu.

"I'm not sure. This is the first time I've seen it." Jupiter answered.

"To think Natsu Dragneel would use that power so soon. It seems you have a harder time than I expected." A familiar voice was heard, and Gray immediately moved in front of everyone while Kagura drew her sword.

"Are we supposed to believe you know something about that?" The dark haired mage asked, glaring at the masked man who smirked.

"You can believe whatever you want, Gray Fullbuster. In time, you'll have no choice but to accept the truth. For now, I am here to congratulate you on clearing the first plane." The long haired man said.

"So you are the coward who brought us here. Are you ready to taste my blade?" Kagura said as she pointed her sword at the masked man.

"He's not here physically." Mercury noted.

"Same as last time." Gray added.

"All in due time, my little lost lambs. You may call me Black Mask, and you will find me on a higher plane. Just stay alive until then." Black Mask revealed before he vanished.

"What a douchebag." Jupiter commented. After that, Natsu stirred and everyone turned to him.

"Take it easy." Mercury advised the rose haired man who winced as he slowly got up.

"That didn't look like how Erza described Dragon Force. What were those flames?" Gray wondered.

"Let's free the next person first. I'll tell you after that." Natsu promised his former teammate.

* * *

On their way to the stone altar, Natsu thought back on what Setsuna had told him after they defeated the Death Busters.

 _"There's something that has been on my mind lately. Natsu-san, do you still feel the Holy Grail's power inside you?" Setsuna asked, earning surprised looks from both Natsu and Michiru._

 _"You think the power remained inside him?" Michiru wondered._

 _"It's a possibility. The princess and Small Lady might be the ones tethered to the Silver Crystal's power, but there are examples of others using its power. Our prosperity in the future came largely from Neo Queen Serenity's ability to bestow its blessing on her citizens, and you both saw how powerful Mistress 9 became when she utilised the stolen crystal." Setsuna explained. "And then there's Natsu-san. As a Dragon Slayer, you have been able to use fire to recover, even become stronger. Who's to say you can't keep other forms of magic in your body?"_

 _"You did say once that you used the Etherion to save your friend, and it had more than fire inside it." Michiru recalled, growing thoughtful. Natsu extended his hand and concentrated, eventually bringing forth a small silver flame._

 _"Huh." He simply said while the two women stared at the fire._

 _"What does this mean?" Michiru asked._

 _"I'm not sure. Natsu-san is a mage from another world; this is an unprecedented case." Setsuna admitted before she looked up and stared Natsu in the eyes. "I can only advice you to refrain from using that power unless you are out of options. We don't know what the effects on your body may be."_

'Even so, I have to use everything I have in order to save them.' The rose haired man thought as he raised the shard, which levitated and revealed a male form this time.

"I guess it was a process of elimination at this point." Gray mused as the glow dissipated, revealing a white haired man that wore a blue jacket with a matching short cape, black pants, and beige boots. The man opened his eyes, revealing black orbs.

"Juvia!" He shouted dramatically before looking around. "This isn't Fairy Tail. Kagura-san and… Natsu-san? Gray, what's going on?"

"The short story is that someone put us in a separate place for a reason that we haven't found yet. We're working on it." Gray explained.

'So we're going to ignore how Lyon dramatically yelled Juvia?' Natsu thought while the others told Lyon what they knew. At the mention of the masked man, he perked up.

"So he calls himself Black Mask? That's obviously an alias. That bastard is lucky I wasn't up." The rose haired man said, though Mercury looked sceptical.

"He was there as a spectre, and Gray-san said that's how he appeared the first time as well. I doubt you'll get a chance to fight him soon." The bluenette pointed out.

"I hate to admit it, but he's toying with us." Kagura added, obviously annoyed.

"We can't do much about him now." Gray said, turning to Natsu. "You said you'd explain whatever it is you did."

"There was a big battle. Our enemy was one step from destroying the world, and the leader of our group was about to use a powerful magic that would put her life in danger. When I saw her, I remembered when Erza tried to stop the Etherion explosion, so I did the only thing that came to mind; try to use that magic myself." Natsu tried to explain.

"If it was dangerous for her, how did you survive?" Kagura wondered and Natsu smiled wryly.

"One of the convenient things of being a dragon slayer. I still have a remnant of that power, but it's not as strong as that time."

The rose haired man knew his explanation didn't satisfy Gray and Kagura, and he noticed that his former guildmate had caught the look Mercury and Jupiter exchanged during his story. Lyon, on the other hand, looked in thought, probably still contemplating the situation. The white haired man suddenly jerked up, as if remembering something.

"I didn't introduce myself." He said to himself before he turned to the two Senshi and slightly bowed. "Lyon Vastia, S class mage of Lamia Scale, at your service. You ladies must be part of the group that Natsu-san mentioned."

"That's right. I'm Kino Makoto, and she is Mizuno Ami." Jupiter answered before whispering to Mercury. "Such a gentleman. He reminds me of my old senpai."

"Lyon and I trained together when we were kids, so he's an ice mage as well. His style is different though." Gray said.

"How so?" Mercury enquired. Lyon responded by taking the usual stance, however what he moulded was a swallow that flew around before landing on Jupiter's shoulder.

"How pretty! And there's something soothing about it." The brunette noted, petting the swallow.

"That's not to say I don't have offensive magic." Lyon added with a smile. "But I suppose I'll have the opportunity to show you."

* * *

"I feel a bit uneasy returning to this place." Lyon noted after the group teleported to the area they fought the Blendy cousins.

"So you are connected to this island?" Jupiter asked, earning a wry smile from the white haired man.

"I fought with Gray right here. After our teacher's death I went down a dark path, thinking only how to surpass her." Lyon started saying while they moved towards the summit. "Trying to kill my younger brother disciple really was one of my lowest points."

"Now I remember. You were the one they called Reitei, right? It sounds like the rumours about trying to unseal the demon Deliora are true." Kagura mused.

"Eventually I realised that all I was looking for was closure, a way to cope with Master Ur's death. It was still a foolish motion, and it took Gray beating my ass to understand that she would want us to help each other instead of fighting." Lyon finished as the group fell silent for the rest of the way up.

'Did Lyon get his closure? There are times when I think that I haven't got over Ur's death.' Gray inwardly pondered as they reached the summit. The group walked warily in case there was another ambush, but thankfully they found the pedestal with no issues. Natsu looked at each one of them, and after exchanging nods he activated the stone pedestal, transporting them to a foreign city. Gray, Kagura, and Lyon looked around with shocked expressions, taking in the sight of the huge glass buildings, the ground covered by an unknown black material, and all the street signs.

"Where are we?" Gray asked.

"Tokyo, but where…" Jupiter wondered.

"This looks like Edogawa." Natsu said before he scaled one of the taller buildings.

"You said this world is more advanced, but this is something else." Kagura muttered.

"This world? So we really are away from Fiore." Lyon mused.

"But there's magic here. You said there was no magic." Gray pointed out, turning to Mercury and Jupiter.

"The real Japan is a land without magic, in the traditional way at least." The bluenette clarified. Suddenly, Natsu landed back into the group, causing Jupiter to yelp.

"What's with the sudden moves?" The brunette exclaimed.

"Just wanted to be sure of the place we are." The rose haired man said, looking grave. "And I was right. The marine cathedral is in the distance."

At the mention of that place, Gray took note of how both Senshi looked at his former teammate with worry.

'Something serious must have happened there.' The dark haired man thought. Outwardly he said, "So how do we get there?"

"We took a boat, but I doubt we'll find one here." Jupiter answered.

"And I used my magic to get there." Natsu added.

"Then we'll use our magic as well." Lyon said and the brother disciples took mirroring stances.

"ICE MAKE: BRIDGE!" They yelled at the same time, moulding a sturdy bridge that seems to go on forever.

"Ice make magic really has its uses… now that I look at it, Gray-san's ice is darker than Lyon-san's." Mercury noted as the group crossed the bridge.

"Moulding magic is different for every practitioner, both in its colour and its utility. Gray's ice is dark blue, mine is light green, and Master Ur's was pale purple. But there are cases when there are similarities, like if blood related mages know the same magic." Lyon explained.

"We have company." Gray warned the group just before a swarm of large, bug like creatures appeared at the end of the bridge.

"Daimons!" Jupiter said as Natsu, Kagura, and she ran towards them while the other three prepared attacks.

"ICE MAKE: SNOW TIGER!"

"ICE MAKE: LANCE!"

"MERCURY ICICLE NOVA!"

The ice trio's barrage decimated most of the daimons, and those who survived were swiftly taken care of by Jupiter, Kagura, and Natsu.

"Do you guys fight a lot of these demons?" Lyon enquired, but Mercury shook her head.

"Not since our last battle. I can't say I'm excited to see these devils again." The bluenette said. Suddenly, they heard an explosion.

"Natsu's not here!" Jupiter exclaimed, and they realised that the dragon slayer had run ahead. The mages and Senshi went down the path, finding sighs of combat around them.

"What did happen here?" Gray asked. In all the years that he knew Natsu he had only seen that look once, when Mira and Elfman returned without Lisanna.

"We almost lost two of our comrades in this place. One of them is very dear to Natsu." Jupiter explained, causing Gray to pick up the pace.

'I should have realised it sooner that Natsu's not thinking clearly. I need to catch up to him!'

* * *

"Out of the way!" Natsu growled as he destroyed wave after wave of daimons on his way to the centre of the cathedral.

'This place is more crowded than last time- no, stop. Everything is warped in this place. Just push forward.' The dragon slayer thought, facing more daimons until he eventually reached a wide area that was illuminated by moonlight, even though the sun was at its peak when he entered the cathedral. Natsu narrowed his eyes at the lone figure in front of him, a certain red haired woman of unearthly beauty clad in magus robes.

"Didn't think I'd see you as an enemy again, Kaori." The dragon slayer mused, prompting the red haired woman to smirk.

"I didn't expect to have the daimons' power again either, but such is life." Kaorinite said.

"I'm feeling very pissed off right now, so you won't mind if I let off some steam, right?" Natsu said as the magus' smirk widened.

"Are you coming on to me? Is Sailor Neptune not enough for you? Or did you get tired of playing house? It sounds like you're still the hot headed boy." Kaorinite goaded the dragon slayer.

"Save it." Natsu simply said, surrounding himself with flames. "I'll beat all the trials that bastard throws at me and get everyone out of here!"

"You won't be able to save anyone alone, not even yourself." Kaorinite declared, growing serious as she summoned her staff. "I will make you realise that."

Natsu responded by jumping at the magus, going for a flaming axe kick that she dodged to the side. The red haired woman launched an ice blast, which was stopped by the dragon slayer's fire punches.

"DEATH RAY!" Kaorinite yelled, unleashing rays of darkness that caused Natsu to backflip in order to dodge. The dragon slayer put more distance between the two of them before he gathered fire in his mouth.

"KARYU NO HOKO!" He yelled, meeting the magus' dark attack with own breath and causing an explosion. To his surprise, Kaorinite dashed through the smoke with her staff raised, going for downward swing and forcing him to catch the weapon. The dragon slayer let out a war cry before he spun around the magus, then sending her to the roof. This time, however, Kaorinite vanished from sight.

"I thought you were stronger than this? Is it already your limit, boy?" The magus' voice echoed in the room, causing Natsu to grit his teeth.

'She's right, I'm feeling slower. Is it from using the Grail's power earlier?' The dragon slayer wondered as a blizzard manifested in the room, numbing his senses. At the same time, his feet got trapped in ice.

"This again? Gah!" Natsu grunted in pain as a blast of darkness struck him in the back, causing him to lean forward. Kaorinite appeared behind him, frowning.

"Did peace make you soft? Or there's something else? Either way, you have no chance of defeating Black Mask right now." The magus noted.

"What did you say?" Natsu growled as Kaorinite raised her staff to strike him down, when a snow wolf sent her back, and Mercury and Jupiter freed the dragon slayer from the trap.

"Are you hurt?" The brunette asked, steadying the dragon slayer.

"My pride more than anything." Natsu admitted. Kaorinite got up to see Gray, Lyon, and Kagura facing her.

"So there are others like the boy." The magus commented before focusing on Gray. "There's something different about you though. What could it be?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Gray said as he prepared to strike. "I'm just a regular mage. Nothing more nothing less. ICE MAKE: FLYING SAUCER!"

"MAGUS FREEZE!" Kaorinite yelled, answering Gray's ice disks with a blast of her own, then following up by slamming the tip of her staff on the floor, freezing it and sending spikes at the trio, forcing them to split. Gray and Lyon landed on opposing sides before going for a counter attack at the same time.

"ICE MAKE: HAMMER!"

"ICE MAKE: PANTHER!"

Kaorinite, not moving from her earlier spot, spun her staff, sending whips of darkness to meet the ice attacks.

"I'm a magus! You'll have to do more than blindly throw attacks at me in order to defeat me!" The red haired woman started to boast, when it dawned on her that Kagura had disappeared from her sight.

"You should mind your surroundings, magus." The swordmage muttered from behind Kaorinite, slashing her and giving the chance for Lyon and Gray to close the distance. The brother disciples dashed at the magus with ice coated fists, punching her and sending her through the wall. The mages stood on their guard, but eventually the magus got out of the hole while glowing.

"Do all regular mages pack such a punch from wherever you are? But maybe that's what you need to overcome the trials in this place." Kaorinite mused.

"What do you know about this place?" Lyon asked.

"Only that you can't count on just your own strength. A certain princess taught me that." Kaorinite answered before she turned to Natsu. "Now I see it. You have her power, boy. But your body is not used to it."

"How…" Natsu started before he shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I'm still as reckless as before. I won't be able to protect them if I stay that way."

Kaorinite nodded in agreement, then turned to Gray.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"Gray." The dark haired man answered, surprised.

"You have something mixed in you too, no matter how much you try to hide it. As a magus, all I can advise you is to not let it consume you as it consumed me." The magus said before vanishing, leaving behind a shard. Natsu picked up the shard, but his attention was to Gray. It was obvious from back at the spider demon fight that Gray had picked up new tricks, but Natsu didn't think much on it at that time. Kaorinite's last words though, coupled with the way Gray reacted to them, told the dragon slayer that it wasn't something simple.


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:  
Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha Comics  
Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima and Kodansha Comics**

"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
 _Flashback_

The Dragon and the Senshi: A mysterious world

Chapter 4

'That shard definitely has one of Natsu's new friends.' Gray thought as said rose haired man raised the shard, which glowed and manifested into a tall woman. The glow dissipated, revealing her features. She was clearly an athletic woman, with short dirty blond hair, and wore a white shirt with a blue trench coat, black pants and white running shoes. Makoto beamed at the sight of the newcomer and ran towards her, hugging her just as the tall blonde opened her crystal blue eyes.

"Haruka-senpai, you're okay!" The brunette exclaimed, causing Haruka to stare at her with wide eyes before she looked over the group.

"Don't tell me this is what I think it is." The blonde said to Natsu more than anyone else.

"Whatever, or whoever you and Setsuna were looking for decided to play with all of us." The rose haired man confirmed. Haruka's expression got sharper and Gray realised that she already had an idea of their situation.

"And civilians got involved too? Our new enemy plays dirty." The blonde said, prompting Kagura to walk in front of her with her sword in plain view.

"Your concern is appreciated, but unneeded. We are not civilians." The raven haired woman coldly said. Haruka glanced at the sword, then at how Gray and Lyon carried themselves, and she put two and two together.

"More mages. Then Setsuna's bad feeling was true." She muttered.

"So you know something?" Ami enquired.

"Only that there's a disturbance between the realms. And since mages have been dragged here, I can't begin to guess what happened to Setsuna." Haruka elaborated as she took note of the garden. "Speaking of, where is here?"

"In a separate realm, according to one of the people we fought. It can replicate places and people, but we don't know how or why?" Makoto explained.

"There are others trapped here, like you were. Setsuna might just be trapped as well…" Natsu added, but cut himself short and Gray noticed a flash of worry passing on his face. "No, everyone we've found so far is safe. I'm sure Setsuna is too."

"She's not the only one you're worried about." Haruka noted sympathetically. "I'll help you find them. I owe it to her after all."

'So Setsuna is not the one that Natsu likes.' Gray pondered before he backpedalled. 'Wait a minute. Why am I thinking so hard about Natsu's girlfriend? Has Erza's interest in romance rubbed off on me that much?'

While Gray contemplated his navel, Haruka had turned her attention to Kagura and had a staring contest with her.

"You're an interesting one." The blonde commented with a challenging smirk.

"As are you. Are you stronger than Nee-sama?" The raven haired woman wondered, slightly smirking as well. Makoto looked at the two of them with an intense expression.

"Then I won't fall behind!" The brunette declared, causing Ami, Lyon, and Natsu to sweatdrop.

* * *

The team of seven teleported to the heart of the cathedral, and Uranus looked over the area with a frown.

"You weren't kidding when you said it's just like the real deal. It feels as if I'm losing my heart crystal all over." The blonde commented, trying to calm herself.

"Do you need some time?" Mercury asked with concern.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to drop down from a memory." Uranus told the younger Senshi, smirking to show her she's fine.

"They're clearly succeeding in messing with our heads, that's for sure." Lyon noted while glancing at Gray. The dark haired man wordlessly activated the new pedestal, transporting the group to a vast open area that was full of crystals.

"Is this still Tokyo?" Gray asked incredulously.

"In a way. I didn't expect to see this place again so soon." Jupiter answered.

"So this is Crystal Tokyo. I've only ever seen visions of it during my awakening." Uranus mused.

"Crystal Tokyo? So even the future can be replicated." Natsu said, shocked.

"Did you just say the future?" Gray asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"It's a long story. Anyway, there's nothing but crystals around here." The rose haired man noted.

"There should be a road around here…" Jupiter muttered, taking the lead. Not long after, she found a white coloured path for them to follow.

'They even moved in time? Natsu's adventures sound more and more bizarre.' Gray thought.

"So that's where you fought the Black Moon Clan." Uranus pondered aloud, earning nods from the younger Senshi.

"And it's safe to say we'll run into some of them again. Careful, everyone, these people play dirty." Mercury advised the group just as they reached a gate.

"Another trial…" Gray muttered as Mercury touched the gate, sending an ethereal voice in everyone's head.

 _Only the Guardians of the Queen of the Moon can pass._

"Then we won't be able to help." Lyon noted.

"Don't worry, you can count on us." Jupiter reassured the white haired man.

"Too bad you won't be able to see me in action." Uranus told Kagura with a wink.

"Defeating your enemy will suffice for now." The raven haired woman said. Mercury then opened the door and the three Senshi disappeared from their sight.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Gray muttered before his eyes widened. "It's a trap! Brace yourselves!"

True to his word, a swarm of unearthly pale mannequins appeared from out of nowhere, surrounding them.

* * *

"This is the lobby of the hotel where that chess tournament took place." Mercury noted. The moment she walked out of the door, she found herself alone and a familiar room. "Which means…"

She didn't get to finish her thought since she had to dodge to the side, just in time to avoid a pillar of water that emerged exactly where she stood.

"Oh? Did you remember last time? Or was that a stroke of luck, Sailor Mercury?" A cold voice echoed as if from a monitor while Mercury summoned her goggles and scanned the building.

"I won't fall to your traps again, Berthier!" The bluenette declared as she headed further inside.

At the same time, Jupiter walked down a foggy road, using a handkerchief to cover herself.

'This scent is as unpleasant as last time.' The brunette thought before she noticed two familiar, though unclear due to poor visibility, figures. Jupiter however didn't relax at the sight of them, realising there was something wrong with that image.

'They're not covering their mouths and noses? No human can inhale that gas.' She noted before her eyes widened, and she used her free hand to block an attack. 'Droids!'

A crowd stormed out of the surrounding buildings, swarming the Senshi who's forced to drop her handkerchief to properly defend herself. Watching with a menacing smirk was a green haired woman, who's standing on top of one of the buildings.

"The effects should kick in soon. How long are you going to last, Sailor Jupiter?" The woman wondered when she saw a flash, and didn't realise she got injured until she felt blood on her cheek.

"You always talked a lot, Petz!" Jupiter noted, one eye closed from the pain the Senshi felt because of the gas yet grinning at finding her foe.

Meanwhile, at another place Uranus was already fighting with droids from the moment she appeared. The tall Senshi grabbed two droids by the heads and busted them together, before hurling them at an incoming group. She then gathered energy in her hand, which glowed as she closed it into a fist.

"EARTH CRUSHER!" The blonde Senshi yelled, slamming the fist in the ground and sending a fissure that swallowed the entire swarm of droids.

"To think that there are more annoying Senshi…" She heard a growl, which caused her to smirk as she turned to see a purple haired woman that clearly looked annoyed.

"You may not know me, but I know you, Koan of the Ayakashi sisters." The blonde said before she posed. "Guarded by Uranus, Planet of the skies. I am the soldier of flight, Sailor Uranus! And you are unlucky, to have me as your opponent!"

"Don't make light of me, Sailor Senshi!" Koan shouted as she threw a wave of dark flames that Uranus easily cut through with her sword, causing the purple haired woman to step back in shock. Not wasting the opening, Uranus dashed towards the Ayakashi woman, when a ghost appeared in front of her and cut her way, followed by more emerging from the ground and grabbing her legs.

"Koan!" a new voice called, as a red haired woman reached Koan.

"Calaveras! What took you so long?" The purple haired woman asked.

"Don't worry, sister. I'm here now." Calaveras tried to reassure Koan, but her own confidence dropped when she saw that Uranus already took care of her spectres.

"You know, I can do this all day. But I'm in a hurry, so I'll be going all out!" The blonde Senshi declared, sheathing her talisman and dashing at the Ayakashi sisters so fast that they barely realised she had gotten between them before she kicked Koan in the midsection, then spun and uppercutted Calaveras. The two sisters staggered back, yet tried to attack the Senshi with their magic.

"Not so fast! SPACE TURBULANCE!" Uranus yelled, unleashing a widespread light attack that defeated her foes.

Back to Mercury, after avoiding more traps and defeating droids that tried to ambush her, the bluenette eventually reached a door at a higher floor. Opening it cautiously, she came face to face with a white haired woman.

"You have done well to make it this far…" Berthier started, but Mercury launched a water strike at the Ayakashi woman. However, Berthier dissolved into water after being attacked, causing Mercury to stare in surprise.

"Got you." She heard from behind before she got encased in a water dome.

"Poor Sailor Mercury. So cautious, so smart, and yet you failed to notice the last trap." Berthier gloated as she got in front of the Senshi, missing the smirk of her opponent.

"SHINE SNOW ILLUSION!" Mercury yelled, blasting the white haired woman from point blank and sending her to glass wall, which cracked on impact.

"How did you not faint?" Berthier grunted as the Senshi glared at her.

"I was a liability that time, so I became stronger for my friends. And your trips grew stale. I told you already, Berthier…" Mercury strongly said as she created a harp of water. "I won't fall to your traps! MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!"

Finally, Jupiter jumped on top of a droid, gaining the momentum to scale the build and reach Petz.

"Stay back!" The green haired woman shouted, throwing thorny branches at the brunette, who rolled out of the way before bolting forward, striking Petz with a flying kick that sent her spinning.

"JUPITER THUNDERBOLT!" Jupiter yelled, launching the bolt at Petz and defeating her.

* * *

"They are not tough, but there's no end to these things." Lyon calmly note as the four mages found themselves back to back against the mannequins. The swarm was about to attack once more, when the door burst open, showering the droids with light and destroying them while the three Senshi emerged.

"Took you girls long enough." Natsu said while grinning.

"Sorry, we had to exorcise some spectres from our past. Or future. It's complicated." Jupiter tried to explain.

"I think we'll get more confused at this point if we try to think about it." Kagura noted dryly.

"That's odd. The door disappeared, and there was no shard." Gray commented.

"You were fighting before we came out, weren't you?" Mercury enquired.

"With some pale mannequins." The dark haired man answered, growing thoughtful. 'So was it a real trial, or just a trap to weaken us?'

The group then followed the path once more. On the way, Uranus approached Gray who had remained in the rear.

"Jupiter told me that you were in the same guild as Pinky." The blonde said, drawing the dark haired man from his thoughts.

"Pinky?"

"That's how I call Natsu sometimes. Always gets a reaction out of him." Uranus explained with a smirk that Gray matched.

"You can try Flame Brain too." He added.

"Don't make me come back there!" Natsu shouted from the front of the group, causing the two in the rear to chuckle.

"Anyway, while I'm still bitter he disappeared like that, everybody from the guild still considers that idiot part of Fairy Tail." Gray admitted, noticing that Uranus slightly smiled at his comment.

"Is that so? I didn't know that Natsu gave up so much to be with the two of them- no, with all of us, until months after we defeated our last foe." The blonde said.

"The two of them… Natsu did mention that he has a daughter." Gray muttered before he shook his head. "Natsu as a dad. I still find it hard to picture."

"The circumstances weren't exactly normal, but he stepped up to the role. You'll have to get the full story from him though." Uranus winked at Gray before she walked ahead to chat with Kagura.

'So Natsu even found someone to bicker with…' Gray thought with mild amusement, when he suddenly got a foreboding feeling.

"There's a foul scent ahead." Natsu noted, while Uranus looked at the dark sky.

"The wind has gotten restless too." She added as Kagura and Jupiter ran towards a small hill that obscured their vision. The rest quickly followed them, and the overlooking view gave them the answer to the source of their unease.

"A jet black crystal?" Lyon muttered as the group witnessed a massive crystal looming over the remains of a city.

"Will we meet the prince there? Or someone worse?" Mercury wondered.

* * *

"There's something unnatural about this storm." Lyon noted as the group tried to venture closer to the giant crystal. However, no sooner had they descended the overlook hill that they found themselves on the eye of an abrupt sand storm.

"This looks like the space time storm that we ran into when we looked for Tuxedo Kamen and Chibiusa-chan. My scanning doesn't work anymore, so try to stay as close as you can to each other." Mercury advised the others. Not long after her advice, the storm picked up, causing everyone to cover their eyes. Natsu grunted, but as he opened his eyes again he found himself in a white room, alone.

"So we did get separated." He muttered with annoyance as he checked out the room, finding the pure white table and chairs unnerving for some reason. The rose haired man turned his attention to the sole window, where the storm raged on outside, and his eyes caught a familiar reflection of pink. However, when he turned around he found absolutely nothing.

'A mirage?' He thought, when his enhanced hearing picked the sound of someone small running on the marble floor, and he went after it, eventually catching up to the source. A very familiar girl with pink, bushy twintails and a blue school uniform turned to look at him, but Natsu shot a death glare at the pretender with the cold red eyes.

"Do you think it's a good idea to anger me by taking the appearance of one of my friends?" The dragon slayer growled, causing the pretender to grin in a way that Chibiusa never would.

"Arrogant fool! The rabbit has been mine long before you stepped foot in her realm!" **She** declared as the room vanished, leaving nothing but darkness as far as Natsu could see.

"So it really is you, Death Phantom- no, Nemesis. Show yourself!" The dragon slayer shouted, eliciting a laugh that echoed in the nothingness from the great shadow.

"Show myself? But you do see me, for I am everywhere!" Nemesis boasted. "Death Phantom has no memories of you. Does that mean you died by the time he fought that accursed queen? No matter, I can sense the Silver Crystal within you, so I'll just get it and escape this fake world!"

* * *

Jupiter groggily opened her eyes, feeling as if she had just awoken from a terrible nightmare. Her eyes first fell on Gray, whose expression was unusually cold, then on everyone else who was in a similar state to her.

"What happened?" The brunette asked.

"We fell in Nemesis' trap. Again." Mercury answered, and Jupiter noticed that her companion looked disappointed at herself.

"I was in a dark prison, and the man I thought responsible for my brother's death was torturing Nee-sama in front of me, mocking me as he did. And I could do nothing to stop him! I felt like I was a helpless little girl again!" Kagura added, shaking with anger.

'So all of us saw a nightmare.' Jupiter thought before she noticed a big dome of darkness. Gray was focused on the dome as well, seemingly contemplating something, before he ran towards it.

"Come to think of it, Gray-san is the only one who looks fine." The brunette pointed out as Lyon and Uranus approached them.

"Gray is the one who got us out. He's experienced with dark magic." The white haired man explained.

"But there's more to that." Uranus wondered, but Mercury spoke before Lyon had the chance to do.

"Maybe, maybe not. The important thing is that last time Sailor Moon reached out to us and we escaped. This time it was Gray-san. But that's not what worries me." The bluenette said as she turned to the dark dome. "Natsu is trapped in a larger dome than any of us were. It's obvious that Nemesis personally took the fight to him. Back in the future it took the power of the two Silver Crystals to defeat that phantom for good. Can Gray's strength make up for that light?"

* * *

"METSURYU OGI: GUREN BAKUENJIN!" Natsu yelled as he ran past a horde of shadows while circling his hands, incinerating them. The dragon slayer had lost the concept of time in this domain, but he kept fighting on until he found Nemesis' core.

"It is futile to resist, warrior of Crystal Tokyo! My power, the power of the Dark Crystal, is eternal in this domain. Even if you utilise the Silver Crystal inside you, alone it's not enough to defeat me. Not even your accursed queen did!" The shadow sneered, but his mocking only served to fire up Natsu, who ignited himself and struck the phantoms with more ferocity.

"Even if your crystal is eternal, you definitely aren't! The Sailor Senshi defeated you, and so will I!" The dragon slayer declared, emphasising his words with a brilliant flaming sphere that managed to shed some light as it crushed upon his foes. That was short lived as a storm snuffed out the light.

"You're in over your head, boy." Nemesis said a hollow skull appeared in front of Natsu while wraiths grabbed his limbs.

"Your soul is mine!"

Suddenly, a large spear of ice appeared from out of nowhere, piercing the skull right through the mouth. The wraiths that held Natsu let go of him to try and fend off the new threat, and they too were ripped apart by a barrage of arrows. The dragon slayer turned to a glimmer of light, and there Gray stood shirtless, his eyes icy cold and with a tribal tattoo that covered his guild tattoo and shoulder. The ice mage wordlessly moulded a scythe as a large horde of shadows came at him, and with a single swing tore down the domain Natsu was trapped in, revealing the same building the dragon slayer found himself in earlier, albeit in ruins this time. A skeleton coated in darkness appeared before them, rattling in anger.

"What kind of demon are you?" He asked, the words dripping with venom.

"Enough talk, ghost." Gray simply said, angering the skeleton further.

"May you never find peace!" Nemesis yelled as he threw an evil eye beam that Gray easily froze along with the ghost, ending him. Gray, who had dashed to hit his foe, stood with his back to Natsu, and the rose haired man noticed the tribal tattoo receding.

"It did cross my mind with all the things you did. How did you become a demon slayer?" He asked.

"It all happened on what looked to be just another 'take care of a dark guild' mission. Everything went well, when a guy in a silver armour appeared and claimed to be Deliora. We fought, and I realised he was my dead dad. Remember the dark guild Tartaros? A necromancer from there revived him and gave him demon slaying magic. So when I managed to defeat him, he gave me that magic." Gray explained before he turned to face Natsu. "I told you already about the artefacts. This magic had made me the perfect man for these missions since I can sense and resist dark magic. Isn't that convenient?"

Natsu frowned, understanding that there were still things Gray didn't (or couldn't) say. Once again he felt the weight of his choice, and how he left his team without a word.

'Still, I don't regret it. Michiru took my heart the moment I saw her outside the arcade that day, even if I didn't realise it back then. Her and Hotaru, and everyone in Tokyo. Gray and everyone in Fairy Tail. All of them are important and irreplaceable, so even if it's only here, I'll help Gray as much as I can.' The rose haired man thought, feeling a new wave of resolve.

"You better tell me if gets out of control, you hear me you damn stripper? We're in this together!" Natsu declared, finally getting Gray to grin.

"Stop trying to act cool, Flamebrain. I know already." The dark haired man said before a bright light earned their attention, and they turned to see the giant crystal glowing. The duo nodded at each other and jumped off the building.

* * *

The two mages reached the glowing crystal, where the others waited. Jupiter, being the first to notice them, smiled in relief.

"You made it out unharmed. That's good." The brunette said.

"Did you find out anything about the crystal?" Gray asked as Lyon approached them.

"Ami-san and Haruka-san are inspecting it, but they have nothing so far." The white haired man answered while he gave his jacket to the shirtless Gray.

"Nothing? This is troublesome." The dark haired man mused before noticing that Natsu slowly approached the crystal, his focus entirely on it.

"Natsu?" Mercury called him, confused, but the rose haired man placed his hand on the crystal, causing its glow to intensify while everyone else shielded their eyes. Once the light dissipated, everyone opened their eyes to see a young teenage girl with pink bushy twintails and a blue and white sailor fuku floating where the crystal stood.

"The little rabbit?" Uranus muttered in surprise as the girl opened her red eyes and immediately launched herself at Natsu, tackling him to the ground and causing the rest to sweatdrop.

"You really visited us, Natsu-nii! What a happy surprise this is! Is Hotarun with you?" She beamed at the rose haired man, who was almost as surprised as everyone else.

"When did you get so tall, Chibiusa?- Wait, Natsu-nii?" He exclaimed.

"But I didn't get taller since the last time you visited." Chibiusa pondered with a quizzical look. She then looked up and realised that there were strangers among the group, so she stood up at lightning speed and gave them a somewhat proper bow.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Tsukino Usagi, also known as Small Lady and Chibiusa." The pink haired girl introduced herself, and Gray noticed that her cheeks had almost turned the colour of her hair.

'Don't tell me it's her!' The dark haired man thought, completely misunderstanding the young girl's blush. Natsu got up in the meantime and took a short breath for what was about to come.

"Chibiusa, I want you to look around slowly. But don't panic, what you're about to see isn't real." He instructed the girl, who finally noticed the ruined city and her eyes widened.

"The city… Mama… but if you said this isn't real, then what is it?" Chibiusa wondered, trying not to panic.

"A different realm, Chibiusa-chan. A world that the new enemy created in order to break our spirit." Mercury explained.

"That's right, nobody's hurt. Your parents are safe." Uranus added before smiling at the young pinkette. "Natsu is right, you do look taller that when you left for the future."

Her friends words managed to calm Chibiusa down, and the last comment even made her puff her chest proudly.

"I started growing again once I returned to the future! Papa and Mama believe it's thanks to my new awakening!" The pink haired girl explained.

"Okay, time out!" Gray interjected, earning the group's focus. "Context for the mages here?"

"Chibiusa-chan is from the future, about nine hundred years from now. The phantom you fought earlier Nemesis? He attacked her family, which is sort of us, and went after her when she came to the present to ask our help." Jupiter tried to explain.

"Of course there's more to the story, but this is not the place to talk about it." Natsu added before he turned to Chibiusa and patted her head fondly. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I think I can handle it." The pink haired girl said before she took out a pen similar to the ones the girls used. "Usagi and the others are ahead, right? I promised that I'll be strong for them!"


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:  
Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha Comics  
Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima and Kodansha Comics**

"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
 _Flashback_

The Dragon and the Senshi: A mysterious world

Chapter 5

The next place the group transported to was a transparent pathway that looked exactly like the one Natsu woke up to.

"This must be a link between planes." Mercury commented as she scanned the area.

"There's a strange stillness in the air too." Lyon added.

"Are you scared, Chibiusa-san?" Kagura asked the younger girl, who was walking next to her.

"This emptiness brings back bad memories." Chibi Moon admitted, trying to stop her body from shaking. Eventually she clenched her fists and looked up. "But I'll be fine. After all, I'm also a Sailor Senshi!"

"You're a brave girl." Kagura said softly as she patted the young Senshi's head. Natsu, who walked a little further in the rear, smiled at the scene.

"What's with that goofy smile, Natsu-nii?" Gray asked as Uranus and he flanked the rose haired man, smirking at him.

"Chibiusa used to call me an idiot all the time when she was to the present." Natsu started answering, losing his smile as he grew thoughtful. "What Nemesis said earlier about not recognising me struck a chord. I feared that something happened, and I messed up along the way and left everyone. But if I'm still around in Chibiusa's time, and she warmed up enough to think of me as her big bro, then I haven't failed. Or won't fail. You know, in the future."

Uranus and Gray exchanged a look after Natsu's confession.

"Natsu. Are you… a siscon?" The blonde asked, causing the rose haired man to fall on his face.

"What the hell?" He exclaimed after he stood up just as abruptly as he fell.

"I'm kidding." Uranus simply said before she got more serious. "If I have to be honest, it's hard to get used to a more serious or grounded Pinky after the strong first impression you left. You know thinking wasn't your strongest suit."

"Tell me about it. Natsu's temper was very bad even when he grew up, like that time he wanted to take on Phantom Lord by himself. Not that I was any better ." Gray added. Natsu put a hand on his chest, where he felt a simple ring hanged by a chain, and its touch comforted him and gave him strength.

"I needed to grow beyond a mage with a bad temper." He simply said.

"Fair enough." Uranus said while Gray looked in thought. Ahead of the five people, Jupiter watched with interest as Lyon showed Mercury how to mould ice stuff.

"You already have a talent with ice manipulation, so what you need is the creativity to visualise every detail of what you want to make, then practice until you perfect it. Like this." The white haired man instructed as he clasped his hands for a few seconds, then opened them and presented a lily to the bluenette.

"It really is well made. Pleasant to the touch too." Mercury commented before she tucked it in a pocket and mimicked Lyon's moves, concentrating for more time than him before she opened her hands showed a rose of ice. "What do you think?"

Lyon took the rose and inspected it like a connoisseur, before he gave a satisfied nod.

"You really are a natural at this, Ami-san. It took me weeks to create a flower this detailed and sturdy." He said, clearly impressed.

"Your instructions helped too, Lyon-san. You should give yourself more credit." Mercury pointed out with a smile. Jupiter then looked ahead and stopped walking.

"Guys?" The brunette called and the others looked ahead too, noticing that the path opened in a wide area, with two doors on the other side.

 _You need to clear both doors to proceed._

"So they're making us split again." Gray said with a sharp look.

"At least the teams can be even. The question is, how do we split?" Kagura pondered.

"Two mages and Senshi in each team should be a good balance." Mercury suggested. Natsu, meanwhile, had moved to the doors, first the red then the blue, and placed his hand in each.

"Gray will go through the red door, and I'll go through the blue." The rose haired man said.

"I'll go with you then." Uranus added, followed by Chibi Moon's, "Me too!"

"I'll go with Gray-san. Something draws me to the red door." Kagura admitted.

"Then we're set. These doors look special, so there's no telling who will we run into. Be careful." Gray advised the two teams before they headed for the doors.

* * *

"Can you explain that feeling you have?" Jupiter asked Kagura as the group led by Gray followed a golden tinted path. Kagura folded her arms, looking in thought.

"I'm not sure I can put it in words. Something drew me to it? I felt that I had to face that trial?" The raven haired woman tried to answer, mostly muttering those questions to herself. Gray himself was silent, but he did wonder why Natsu took the initiative in putting the two of them in separate teams.

'Did those strange powers he got give him some sort of intuition? Or was it just his gut feeling? I don't like this.' He thought as Mercury narrowed her eyes.

"There's another wide area ahead. And… someone is waiting for us." She warned the group. Soon, the lone figure came within everyone's view, and Kagura stared at her with a rare shocked look.

"No…" the raven haired woman muttered as an all too familiar scarlet haired woman with a silver chestplate, blue skirt, and brown boots stared at them sharply. Jupiter was surprised by Kagura's reaction as she had gotten used to her aloofness, but Mercury put the pieces together.

"Scarlet hair, Kagura-san's reaction… not to mention her presence… so that must be Erza-san." The bluenette concluded.

"No… that's not Erza." Gray muttered, and the girls flinched at the tranquil fury in his tone. The ice mage slowly walked towards Erza, who surrounded herself with light before she revealed the Flame Empress Armour. The two bolted at each other suddenly, Gray moulding a sword while Erza summoned a flaming blade, and engaged in a fierce duel.

"They look like they try to kill each other! Even if it's an enemy brought by Phantasma, Gray-san is too rough!" Kagura exclaimed, bewildered by Gray's aggression. The two Senshi were focused on what the ice mage said though.

"Isn't this weird? Every human we fought so far talked with us. It was as if they were the real deal. But Erza-san didn't say a single word." Mercury noted. Jupiter wordlessly nodded, trying to keep up with the duel that had gotten faster as Gray ran to the side while shooting arrows at Erza, who destroyed them by spinning her blade. She then requiped to her Flight Armour and moved even faster, landing a couple of clean slashes on Gray who grunted in pain.

"Enough!" The ice mage shouted, creating a massive wall of ice that blocked Erza's advance. He then created a glaive and jumped high, going for a vertical strike that the requip mage dodged by dashing back while changing in another armour, this time the Lightning Empress Armour. The scarlet haired woman charged her spear before she threw a lightning strike at Gray.

"JUPITER THUNDERBOLT!" Jupiter yelled, sending her own attack to meet Erza's before she ran in front of Gray.

"What are you doing?" Gray asked, still with the same chilly tone as earlier, but this time Jupiter grinned at him challengingly.

"I understand this is really important to you, but I can't stay on the side lines after seeing how hard you're fighting. Besides-" The brunette declared as she twirled a dagger, infusing it with lightning. "I am the Soldier of storms, Sailor Jupiter!" Nobody will steal my thunder!"

And with that she dashed at Erza, throwing her dagger at the requip mage to force her to break her stance before engaging her in close combat that sent sparks all over the area.

"Makoto-san is right. Even if that person looks like Nee-sama, she's still our foe!" Kagura added as she drew her sword and joined the fray.

* * *

"I hope the others are alright." Chibi Moon worriedly said as the team led by Natsu walked on a silver tinted path.

"We've already been through tough fights, and they're all strong, so you don't need to worry about them." Lyon reassured the younger girl with a smile.

"Okay, I'm going to believe in them. Hey, I bet when we pass that path and beat up the bad guys, they'll be waiting for us on the other side!" The pinkette said.

"You don't share the little rabbit's optimism." Uranus told Natsu, who was in the front. "Is there a reason you split the teams that way?"

"A bad feeling, that's all." Natsu vaguely answered.

"So you sensed a trap and decide to spring it anyway. Brilliant!" Uranus exclaimed. Natsu ignored her sarcasm, knowing well that they kept playing to Black Mask's tune.

'Then again, we've been doing that from the very beginning. There's only one way forward, and it's through their traps…'

The dragon slayer's blood suddenly ran cold, and he abruptly stopped walking, causing Chibi Moon to bump into him and fall on her butt.

"Hey! Warn a girl before you stop like that!" The pinkette complained, but then she noticed the older man's pale face.

"Damn it!" Uranus cursed as a certain teal haired woman in a light blue sailor fuku raised her hands high and gathered a water sphere, which she sent to the stunned Natsu and Uranus.

"ICE MAKE: GEYSER!" Lyon yelled as he got in front of his teammates and blocked the water sphere. "ICE MAKE: DRAGON!"

The teal haired woman gracefully flipped back, dodging the dragon that came out of the geyser.

"Snap out of it, you two! Even if she is who I think she is, we need you! Think of those who are counting on you!" The ice mage shouted back at Natsu and Uranus before he resumed his signature stance and created a wolf, a bear, and a snow tiger, which he unleashed on his opponent. In response, the teal haired woman created a violin and started playing an aria that caused pain to everyone and stunned the ice animals.

"I never thought Neptune-chan would use an attack like this!" Chibi Moon exclaimed as she covered her ears.

"Michiru wants her music to inspire people, to make them happy. She would never use it that way!" Uranus declared. Meanwhile, Natsu had dropped on one knee, fighting the urge to scream.

'That person isn't her!'

"Legendary Silver Crystal! Give me your aid! Lend me strength!" Chibi Moon chanted, her voice getting stronger with each word. Her moon rod materialised in front of her, and despite the pain she raised it high.

"PINK SUGAR HEART ACHE!" The young Senshi yelled, sending forth a vibrant light that caused Neptune to stop her attack and dash back in fear, letting out an inhuman cry.

"What was that?" Lyon wondered before he felt the air getting hotter and looked at Natsu, who was slowly getting up, radiating fire.

"So that's what it is." The dragon slayer muttered, piercing his foe with a hard glare before he dashed forward, aiming for a flying kick that Neptune dodged. Despite that, he mounted the offensive, not letting time for the teal haired woman to recover.

"Your nimble moves are like hers, and even your scent could fool most people." Natsu commented while gathering fire in his fist. "But you are not Michiru!"

As if to emphasise his words, the punch was so hard it sent Neptune flying. The teal haired woman landed on the floor and rolled back like a ragdoll, but she wasted no time to recover.

'The moment Natsu punched her, her eyes changed. It's different from everyone we fought so far here, or even the second Natsu from that time. What is she?' Uranus thought as Neptune launched a water snake at Natsu, who sidestepped it while running at her.

"KARYU NO KAGIZUME!" The dragon slayer yelled, aiming for Neptune's head with his legs, and Neptune had to coat her hand in a dragon shaped water fist to block him. Her eyes widened, however, when she noticed Natsu gathering fire in his mouth.

"KARYU NO HOKO!"

The breath attack hit Neptune from point blank, raising smoke and dust as Natsu landed on his hands and jumped back, waiting for the smoke to reveal if he was successful. What they did witness when the smoke dissipated sent chills down their spines.

* * *

"Take this!" Jupiter shouted, finally managing to strip Erza of her blade and pressing forward by driving a knee, then an electrifying elbow to the scarlet haired woman's chest. The brunette went for another strike, but Erza parried her fist and smacked her with her armoured hand right in the face, staggering her. Requiping into the Wind God Armour, Erza brought down her broadsword in a vertical arc with the aim to cleave the Senshi in half. The attempted killing blow left Jupiter with no choice but to stop the big sword with her bare hands, turning the fight into a deadly power contest.

"You really fight like a demon, Erza-san. Or whatever you are that looks like her." The brunette noted before grinning." But I have my pride, you know. Ha!"

The Senshi planted her feet on the floor and used all of her raw strength to swing Erza in the air, where she hovered as Kagura used her gravity magic to keep her in place.

"Now, Ami-san!" The swordmage shouted.

"MERCURY AQUA MIRAGE!" Mercury yelled, throwing a wave of water at Erza. However, the scarlet haired woman managed to requip into the Heaven's Wheel Armour and dodged the attack, then flash stepped and slashed both Senshi in quick succession. Kagura herself barely managed to parry with her sword before a second strike knocked it away.

'It looks like I can't match you…' The swordmage thought as Erza went for the kill, when Gray dragged her back with one hand while parrying Erza's blades with the claymore that he held on the other hand.

"Go check on the others." The ice mage instructed Kagura, who nodded in response and left the two to stare at each other.

"I didn't expect that I'll fight you like this, even after coming to this place." Gray admitted. Erza responded by summoning weapon after weapon behind her, all aiming at the ice mage who clicked his tongue.

"Talk about overkill. Then, I should respond in kind!" The demon slayer declared as the floor beneath him froze, and the air got chillier while he dropped into a stance and created an insane amount of swords from ice. Kagura and the two Senshi stared in shock, since the weapons had completely covered the two opponents. Erza launched her weapons first, and Gray extended his left arm towards her.

"ICE MAKE UNLIMITED: BOLT RAMPAGE!" He yelled, sending his own flurry of swords and creating a storm of weapons. Gray let out a war cry as his skin began to blacken, and eventually he overpowered Erza and struck her down with his swords, creating an explosion. The ice mage panted heavily as the dust settled, and his eyes widened at the sight of Erza's true form, which is a clay doll with the body shape of the Fairy Tail mage but with no facial features. Just then, a sharp pain arose in Gray's chest, forcing him to fall on his knees while the doll slowly approached him with a clay sword in hand.

"You faker!" Kagura shouted in rage, running towards the doll and disarming it before cutting it down, destroying it. A shard appeared to the spot where the doll was defeated, and Kagura picked it up while Mercury and Jupiter ran to Gray's side.

"Did he get poisoned?" Mercury wondered, noticing the blackened skin of the man.

"It's magic overuse. We'll need to carry him." Kagura instructed the Senshi as she helped Jupiter with supporting Gray. The team then walked to the door that appeared.

* * *

Natsu was reminded of Germatoid's superhumans as he witnessed their enemy's true form, which was like a statue of Michiru except with no facial features.

"That's a doppelganger. They copy a person's appearance and power, but nothing of their personality. That's why she didn't talk." Uranus realised.

"So the demon took Michiru's face to unnerve us." Natsu noted, clenching his fists in anger.

"And Gray's team most likely fought a doppelganger of Erza-san." Lyon added, looking grave at the thought.

"This farce has gone long enough." Natsu growled, moving to attack.

"Wait, Natsu." Uranus called the dragon slayer. "Please let me finish it."

Natsu looked from the doppel Neptune back to Uranus and nodded, realising that the blonde needed this as much as he did. The tale Senshi stepped forward to the doppelganger, who had summoned a clay violin.

"I will not let you stain Michiru's music anymore." The soldier of sky declared as she raised her hand, gathering energy. "WORLD SHAKING!"

The doppelganger barely managed to stop the energy sphere with a water blast from the violin, while Uranus was already preparing her next attack, letting a war cry as she adopted a half crouching stance with the left foot in front.

"That's…" Chibi Moon recognised the move as Uranus dashed forward, glowing with energy.

"WRATH OF GENBU!" the blonde Senshi yelled, slamming Neptune with her shoulder and sending her flying. Uranus' force was so great that she had to skid to cut her momentum as the doppelganger landed on the ground, defeated. The blonde walked towards the doppelganger, which vanished and left behind a shard, and she picked it up as a door materialised in front of her.

"Let's catch up to the others!" Chibi Moon said as she ran to the door and forced it open. The others followed her and ended up in an area similar to the one that led to the two doors. A portal glowed in the centre of the circular area, and a pedestal on the other side was covered by a barrier, but there was nobody in sight.

"So we are the first to arrive." Lyon noted. Not long after, a red door appeared, and Mercury emerged followed by Kagura and Jupiter supporting Gray who looked in pain.

"Gray!" Lyon called, running to his brother disciple first and taking him from the girls. "Natsu-san, quick! We need to get him back to the base!"

Natsu nodded wordlessly, noticing the dark haired man's blackened skin, and helped Lyon with carrying Gray to the portal. Behind them Chibi Moon gasped at Gray's state while Uranus glanced at him with an unreadable expression before she turned to the others.

"You're hurt too!" She realised after looking at her fellow Senshi.

"It's not as bad as it looks." Mercury tried to reassure the taller Senshi, who looked like she wanted to say something but stopped as they teleported back to the garden. After looking for a while, they found a bench to place Gray, who muttered something in a half conscious state. Natsu leaned towards his former teammate and made out the words 'Erza' and 'Sorry'.

"So you did fight a doppelganger of Erza." The rose haired man muttered.

"It was as strong as Nee-sama, but more ruthless." Kagura explained, holding her hand to stop the shaking now that the adrenaline died down. "I never expect to see her pointing so many weapons at another human, let alone Gray-san."

'And Gray had to resort to demon slaying to defeat her.' Natsu realised, but didn't voice his thoughts. Lyon definitely knew about Gray, those two were close. Kagura probably knew as well since she didn't look surprised by the markings. But the Senshi knew nothing about it, and it wasn't his place to bring it up.

"You guys go unseal the people we got. I'll stay here to keep an eye on Gray." Lyon suggested and Natsu nodded with gratitude before the others followed him to the stone altar.

There, the rose haired man raised the two shards which glowed brightly and revealed two women, one with long blond hair that went lower than her back, styled with a red ribbon on the top, light blue shirt and green jacket, matching pants and red platform shoes, while the other woman had slightly shorter raven hair, just reaching her back, and red and white Miko clothes. They slowly opened their eyes, the blonde's light blue shining with excitement while the raven haired woman's amethyst eyes looking focused.

"Yosh! I'll get you this time!" The ribbon wearing blonde declared while raising her fist.

"Were you at the arcade again, Minako-chan?" Jupiter asked, sweatdropping.

"And I almost broke every record too!" Minako proudly admitted.

"But didn't you have the afternoon shift?" Mercury wondered, causing Minako to laugh nervously before she abruptly fell into a deep bow towards the Miko.

"I won't be late this time, Rei-chan! Please be gentle!"

Rei, however, didn't pay attention to the skit, instead she had her eyes closed and seemed to be focusing.

"This place, I've seen it in a vision." She muttered before she opened her eyes. "Or at least, it looked similar. It was darker, as if someone actively snuffed the light, and the air was chilly. I was walking down the path until I came upon the sight of a large demon clashing with a shadowy figure that looked human, except both felt just as demonic. Suddenly, there's a blizzard, and that's where the vision stopped. What does this mean?"

"So two demons fighting each other? That doesn't sound like anything we've run into so far." Jupiter mused.

"Mars-chan's visions always come true in some way. Mama prevented many bad things from happening thanks to her." Chibi Moon pointed out. "But why a blizzard?"

"You look like you have an idea, Natsu." Uranus stated, and Natsu knew that she already suspected what on his mind.

"I want to be sure about it before sharing. Anyway, Jupiter and Mercury. You two should stay with Gray and rest. We have a pretty big group now so we can afford to let a person or two behind to recover their strength." The rose haired man suggested.

"And let you risk yourselves while we stand around? You know I can't do that!" Jupiter exclaimed.

"Natsu-san has a point, you shouldn't strain yourselves. Your injuries aren't major, but they could still prove fatal if you fight someone in that condition." Kagura pointed out.

"We also need to look around this garden. We've been moving forward in search of clues so far, but we might have missed something here." Mercury mused. The bluenette's comment was enough for Jupiter to relent, and she sat back on a nearby bench. Suddenly, Minako who was still in her bowing stance bolted up and pointed at Kagura.

"Who's the cutie?" She bluntly asked.

"C-cutie?" Kagura stammered, clearly not expecting it.

"Oh yeah, there are mages here too. There are two more guys nearby, you should go meet with them before we move out." Natsu casually said, causing Rei and Mercury to sweatdrop.

"One of them is that Gray-san then? He's from Fairy Tail." Rei said mostly to herself while looking in thought. "Yeah I want to see him."

…

 **Author's Note: Sorry for the late update, it's been getting harder to find time to write these past months. The reception on the story has been pretty lukewarm too and I'm not sure how to proceed without feedback. I do have some notes though, so there might be more chapters throughout the summer.**

 **Now this chapter is something I wanted to write ever since this sequel came to mind. It wasn't just about overcoming a trial of strength for Gray and the others this time and it shows that their new enemy will use any means. Hopefully the impact was felt.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:  
Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha Comics  
Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima and Kodansha Comics**

"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
 _Flashback_

The Dragon and the Senshi: A mysterious world

Chapter 6

 _"Hey, everyone." Gray greeted lazily as he entered the guild hall, not bothering to hide his yawning._

 _"Well well, look who decided to wake up. Was that last mission too much for Gray-sama?" Cana asked with a wink._

 _"In my defence, it's the fourth mission this week." Gray said with a shrug._

 _"A man doesn't get tired by four missions! He makes seven out of seven!" Elfman declared loudly, and Gray turned to see the taller teen armwrestling with Natsu. Lisanna and Happy were watching intently, while Levy was sitting next to the white haired girl, her eyes glued to a book._

 _"You can do it, Natsu!" Happy cheered, but Lisanna looked from one teen to the other and Gray caught her muttering. "What to do? I should support Elf-nii, but his opponent is Natsu."_

 _"It's just armwrestling." Levy commented nonchallantly, not taking her eyes off the book. Gray sweatdropped at the exchange before he looked back to the contest itself and snickered._

 _"Really, Flame Brain? Using both hands?" The dark haired teen asked._

 _"Shut up! At least I still wear my shirt!" Natsu countered, and Gray looked down to notice that he had lost his shirt once again._

 _"You know, you could make money from this. I'll be your manager." Cana suggested, clearly amused._

 _"My manager? Do I even want to know what are you thinking?" Gray incredulously asked as he looked for his shirt while Natsu and Happy laughed._

 _"Most unmanly!" Elfman suddenly shouted, slammimg Natsu's hands to the table with such force that the rose haired teen toppled over._

 _"You're both dorks!" Mirajane, who was lazing around at a nearby table, exclaimed, laughing at the younger teens while Lisanna helped a dizzy Natsu getting up._

 _"If you are a man you don't lose your focus! Gray, show me your manliness!" Elfman shouted and Gray accepted the challenge. Needless to say, he found himself doing the same thing as Natsu in order to not lose._

 _"Not-a-word, Hot Pants." The dark haired teen mumbled, causing the recovering Natsu to loudly laugh while banging his hand on the table._

 _"Can I say a word?" Cana asked with a grin._

 _"Will you idiots shut up? I'm trying to sleep!" Laxus' voice was heard from the second floor, but they simply ignored him. Just then, Gray caught a glimpse of red hair and he lost his concentration, resulting in suffering the same fate as Natsu. Rubbing his head and groaning, the teen looked up to see Erza looking down on him, arms akimbo, with a confused expression._

 _"Why are you on the floor?" The scarlet haired girl wondered._

 _"I lost my dignity- I mean my wallet." Gray hastily tried to save face while trying to ignore Cana who snickered. Erza raised an eyebrow before she looked like she remembered something._

 _"Master wants to see you. You didn't cause any mishaps lately, right?" The scarlet haired girl asked._

 _"I didn't cause any property damage or strip in front of a client in the last five missions if that's what you are asking." Gray said, causing Erza to narrow her eyes at him._

 _"I thought you were at six."_

 _"Oh look at the time, I better go see what Gramps wants!" Gray bolted up and made his escape._

 _"Erza! Let's armwrestle!" Mirajane challenged the scarlet haired girl, who turned and noticed that her rival had defeated her brother, and Lisanna tried to help him up with Happy's assistance while Natsu was sleeping face first on top of a table._

 _"Very well, I'll scold Gray later. And Natsu, the table is not for sleeping!"_

 _'That was close.' Gray thought as he entered Gramps' office. The old guildmaster was looking outside, and the teen noticed that he held a card in his hand._

 _"I've received a letter from the council this morning, requesting you in particular." Makarov said before turned to face the younger mage. "Did you do anything to get their attention?"_

 _"Not that I can think of. Even my last missions were uneventful, for our standards that is." Gray shrugged._

 _"You'll go answer their summon just in case. Those people haven't bothered us lately so let's keep it that way. Take Mira or Erza with you." Makarov suggested, earning a nod from Gray. Before he exited the room, the dark haired teen caught the guildmaster muttering, "I don't like this one bit. What is the council up to this time?"_

 _Closing the door, Gray turned to his friends and groaned when he noticed that Erza and Mira were still armwrestling._

 _"Are you two still at it? I have to go to the council and Gramps said one of you should come with me." The dark haired teen informed the duo._

 _"Hear that, Erza? Let's make a bet. The loser goes on the council date with Gray." Mira challenged her rival, and Gray felt his face heat up for some reason. Cana, who noticed his reaction, looked as if a lightbulb was switched on in her head and chuckled knowingly, while Erza slightly reddened._

 _"F-Fine! You asked for it!" She accepted with a higher pitch than intended._

 _"Congratulations, Gray, you've been promoted to a punishment game." Cana commented with a grin as she patted Gray's shoulder, and the dark haired teen could only facepalm._

* * *

 _"Gray, wake up." Gray heard a gentle voice and he slowly opened his eyes, noticing Erza above him._

 _'Too close!' Was the young man's immediate thought and he was thankful that it was dark so the girl couldn't see his flustered face. 'Wait, dark?'_

 _"Night already?" He noted as he sat up on the couch and looked outside. "You drove the whole distance to the branch? I told you to wake me up halfway so that I take the wheel."_

 _"You waited five hours for my armwrestling match with Mira. It was the least I could do." Erza explained. Gray sighed before he got out of the car._

 _"Anyway, let's get a room for the night. The council can wait." The dark haired teen suggested as he started walking._

 _"Are you mad at me?" Erza asked, and Gray turned to see that she didn't move from her earlier spot._

 _"Huh? Why?" He eloquently asked back, confused._

 _"I scold you guys all the time, telling you to be more responsible and stop fighting, but I'm just as irresponsible when it comes to Mira. Not much of an example, huh?" The scarlet haired girl noted with a wry smile._

 _"There's no way I could be mad at you. I know you mean well when you scold us. And you're really cute when you focus on silly stuff." Gray admitted, mumbling the last part._

 _"What was that last part? I didn't catch that." Erza wondered, and her innocent curiocity told Gray that she didn't hear him. Which he was thankful for because what did he just blurt out?_

 _"It's not important, let's go get a room!" He hastily said and resumed walking. Erza took a moment to follow Gray as his outburst caught her off guard, and the pair found a room with two beds, to Gray's surprising disappointment._

* * *

"That's a handy way to move around." Venus noted after the party teleported to the previously sealed area.

"Considering how much we've already fought, these portals are the only convenient thing." Kagura added. They then used the new pedestral to arrive at another stone paved road, one that Natsu was much more familiar with.

"It's Magnolia this time. And those decorations... the Harvest Festival?" The rose haired man mused.

"Magnolia? Isn't Fairy Tail here?" Mars asked, earning a nod from Natsu.

"I don't suppose we'll find any food here?" Venus wondered.

"In this replica town? Doubtful." Uranus answered. Lyon watched the two before he turned to Natsu, who looked in the distance.

"So, where are we going?"

"The guild building." Natsu said as he started walking, followed by the rest of the party. On the way, Chibi Moon went to his side.

"I know that look, you're feeling nostalgic." the young pinkette noted, to which Natsu chuckled.

"I suppose I am. I don't remember anything from before Igneel found me, and after he disappeared I travelled from place to place. Fairy Tail, and this town, were home for years." He explained before he pointed at the canal. "Lucy would always hop on the side of the road and the rowmen would tell her to be careful. And over there, I once sparred with Erza and one of the frog guys from the council came to stop us."

While Natsu recalled more stuff, Venus looked around like a tourist.

"You know, this place reminds me of Italy." The ribbon wearing senshi pointed out.

"I can see what you mean. It's like Venice." Uranus added.

"Is this a country in your world?" Kagura asked, earning nods from both blondes.

"Even in different worlds, people think similarly." Lyon noted before he turned to Mars. "Take Rei-san for example. The robes she arrived in look similar to what the shrine maidens in the east wear. Though I suppose they pray to different gods."

"That makes sense. Can you tell me more about your shrine maidens?" Mars enquired.

"Another time, perhaps." Lyon said with a smile as he looked ahead. "We're almost at Fairy Tail."

"Normally you'd see a chair or a person flying from a window." Natsu informed the senshi as the building came within viewing distance.

"You mean like a saloon?" Venus wondered, causing the rose haired man to laugh.

"Actually, there are two gunslingers at Fairy Tail, Alzack and Bisca. I wonder how are they." He mused.

"They got married last year." Lyon said.

"Is that so? I'm glad for them." Natsu admitted with fondness as they reached the all too familiar building and he took a deep breath before opening the door.

"Just like I remember it." He whispered to himself and the rest of the party exhanged a look.

"We can wait outside if you need some time." Uranus suggested. Natsu gave the group a nod in gratitude before he got inside.

"What's the point of all this?" Mars suddenly asked after a while.

"Natsu left a different life behind, as did I with England, so I can understand him." Venus pointed out, however the raven haired Senshi shook her head.

"That's not what I mean. What does the enemy accomplish by sending us down a memory trip? Is it just a game for them or something more?"

Inside the guild, Natsu looked around, tracing his fingers over the furniture while his eyes saw menories from a different lifetime. The brawls, his bickering with Gray and later Gajeel, Erza's lessons, the time they thought they lost Lisanna, the parties they needed little reason to have, that time Gildarts left for the hundred year mission only to come back after three years. Eventually he moved again, ascending the stairs to the second floor as if drawn to it. The sight of a certain green haired mage was the answer he needed.

"Freed..." Natsu muttered.

"It has been a long time, Natsu." Freed greeted him, but he didn't move from his chair.

"I would shake your hand, but you didn't appear here just to say hello there, did you?" Natsu wondered, to which Freed smirked.

"And you didn't attack me as you often did with Laxus. Did you lose your fire?"

"Oh don't worry, I'm as fired up as ever. It's just that I found out that dashing head first won't always solve your problems." Natsu declared with a grin, and Freed smiled with his eyes closed. When he opened them again, his face grew serious.

"Your friends will need that strength, but for now you are the one who needs to count on them. Just like before, they'll have to fight other foes, people from our guild, while you will remain here. Once they have succeeded, you'll be free to go to Kardia Cathedral where the plane's guardian will be waiting." The rune mage explained and Natsu noticed the runes flickering onthe walls.

"And what's to stop me from beating you here and saving them the trouble?" Natsu asked.

"I'm not even here." Freed simply said before he disappeared, leaving behind runes.

"Of course you aren't." Natsu said, shaking his head in amusement before he went to inform the others.

* * *

"Here you go." Ami said as she handed a cup to Makoto.

"Tea? Where did you find it?" The brunette wondered.

"I did some searching around the garden. There's a tree that sprouts things that are on your mind, and after some experimenting with it I figured out it's limited to herbs. And near it there's a glowing spring that can heal you, but when I drank from it the glow faded." The blunette explained while Makoto drank.

"You're right, this isn't ordinary water. I feel my body regaining its strength." The brunette commented while looking around. "We really know nothing about this place."

"But we can't leave Gray-san alone." Ami said, and both turned their gaze to the unconcious mage who still looked in pain.

"What he used in that last attack wasn't just molding magic. And Rei-chan looked like she saw a ghost when she saw Gray-san." The blunette added.

"I don't think it's just the magic. We've seen what fighting your loved one can do to you, especially in this place. Kagura-san, Haruka-senpai, and Natsu were as shaken as Gray-san." Makoto noted as Gray stirred, muttering something.

* * *

 _"Gray, watch out!" Gray heard and barely ducked out of the incoming mace that went for his head. Spinning, the ice mage encased his fist in his magic and punched the bandit that tried to blindside him, then used the same fist to catch another's blade and elbow him with the free arm._

 _"Thanks, Erza!" He shouted at his companion, who used a cross spear to fend off four opponents at the same time, taking advantage of her weapon's superior reach. What she failed to notice, however, was an enemy archer targeting her back, so Gray swiftly molded a bow and took aim._

 _"ICE MAKE: ARROW!" The dark haired mage yelled, pinning the other archer to a tree with three concecutive arrows just as Erza let a war cry and pressed harder, breaking her opponents' weapons and forcing them to yield. Gray let out a breath and dispelled his bow before he started binding the bandits._

 _'Why would the council request me in particular for such a trivial mission?' He wondered as Erza came to help him._

 _"I noticed the archer too late. Master entrusted me with helping you, yet it was the other way." The scarlet haired girl noted, and Gray smiled at her._

 _"But you helped me too. I'd have a major headache if it wasn't for your warning." The dark haired teen reminded his friend, who smiled back._

 _"We helped each other, true. Maybe we should form a team." Erza suggested. Gray was blown away by her smile and found himself unable to face her, so he looked away to hide his flustered expression._

 _"Sounds great." He managed to mumble._

 _"Maybe we can get Natsu to join too." The scarlet haired girl mused, missing the dark haired teen's disappointed look._

 _'I won't be alone with Erza that way... Woah, where did that come from?' Gray thought, surprised with himself. Fortunately for his poor heart, he noticed a bandit trying to escape and pushed his weird thoughts to the back of his head._

 _"I'll_ _handle him." He simply said to Erza, who noticed him as well, and went after the surprisingly fast bandit. Eventually the thug stopped running and turned to face Gray with a smirk._

 _"You shouldn't make things harder for you." The ice mage warned the bandit who laughed in response._

 _"I had to get you away from that meddlesome Titania."_

 _"What?" Gray exclaimed before he realised he was surrounded._

 _"Our target was you from the start, Gray Fullbuster! You've made some powerful enemies! Get him, boys!" The thug ordered the crowd, who started throwing fire attacks at the Fairy Tail mage. In response, Gray dodged out of the way and into the woods. "It's pointless to hide, guild mage!"_

 _"Who said I was hiding?" Gray shouted as he emerged from the side with ice daggers in hand and swiftly took out the dark mages one by one. The first thug, who looked to be the leader, once again tried to escape when he realised the tables had turned, but this time Gray tackled him to the ground._

 _"Powerful enemies you said? Who sent you and why?" The ice mage demanded while encasing his fist in his magic._

 _"A short man with a tribal mask! He didn't give us a reason, just paid us handsomely to lure you out and attack you!" the dark mage quickly asked. Gray sighed as he dispelled his magic, causing the thug to breathe in relief for a moment before the Fairy Tail mage knocked him out with a regular punch. He then worked on detaining the rest of the dark mages when Erza showed up._

 _"I came as soon as I saw the fires. So there were more in hiding?" She asked._

 _"Yeah, and things just got weird."_

* * *

"Natsu really has a knack for getting into weird situations." Venus commented as she walked lazily with her hands behind her head. Kagura glanced at the bow wearing blonde that she got paired with in silence, prompting Venus to look back at the younger woman and grin. "Has my charm shocked you into silence, Kagura-chan?"

"Eh? It's not like that! T-that is to say, I don't mean that Minako-san isn't pretty..." Kagura stammered, taken back by Venus' mannerism. The raven haired woman spared another glance at the older blonde, only to find her right next to her and yelped.

"The gap between your aloofness and your cuteness is just adorable! I almost want to take you with me to Tokyo!" Venus declared, vividly nodding to herself while Kagura pouted.

"Please don't tease me. You're as bad as Nee-sama." The younger woman exclaimed.

"Sounds like you really miss her. Do you want to talk about your sister?" Venus asked, and Kagura noticed that she looked more serious this time. The young mage looked ahead, reminincing about her past.

"Nee-sama... Erza Scarlet saved me twice. First from the slavers, and then from my own hatred. I was almost consumed by vengeance, but she told me what really happened to my brother, helped me move towards a different path. I would have been a different person if not for her."

Kagura stopped, feeling a hand resting on her head that patted her tenderly.

"She means a lot to you, huh? You want to repay her kindness." Venus noted with a warm smile, and Kagura simply nodded in response. The moment was gone, however, when they both realised that someone was approaching, and Venus immediately got in front of Kagura to protect her.

"It looks like Salamander found another blonde cosplayer with a nice figure, gihi!" The man who approached them said and Venus noted his unique appearance; long, wild black hair tied by a green bandana, a matching vest, brown fingerless gloves with matching boots, and white pants. Most notably, he had piercings all over his face, even in place of his eyebrows, and his eyes were a fierce red.

"I would let this slide normally since you have a good taste, noticing my cuteness and all, but this is my work uniform, pal. And who's Salamander anyway?" The blonde senshi asked.

"Salamander is what they call Natsu-san in Fiore." Kagura answered as she put her hand on the hilt of her sword. "And this man is Black Steel Gajeel, formerly the strongest mage of Phantom Lord and one of Fairy Tail's toughest. In more ways than one."

"Oh? If it isn't Kagura of Mermaid Heel!" Gajeel exclaimed with a grin. "How did you get wrapped up in this?"

"That's what we intent to find out." The raven haired swordmage declared as she moved to unsheathe her sword when Venus stopped her.

"Leave this guy to me. There's a matter of pride at stake." The ribbon wearing blonde said.

"Are you sure you're up for this, Sailor Princess?" Gajeel wondered as Venus grinned.

"I've kicked bigger hardasses than you, Gajeel-san!" She declared while posing. "Protected by Venus, Planet of Beauty, Guardian of Love. Sailor Venus, on the scene! Allow me to punish you with love!" The Guardian of Love's roll call was awkwardly followed by silence, as Gajeel and Kagura both stared at the Senshi with blank looks.

"Are you sure you aren't a cosplayer?" The black haired man asked.

"Why the roll call?" The raven haired woman added.

'So uncivilised!' The blonde Senshi thought, shaking her head in disappointment before she turned determined again. "Anyway, you'll soon find out that you'll have trouble keeping up!"

"You've got spirit, Blondie. I'll give you that." Gajeel grinned as purple markings appeared on his and Venus' hands.

"Freed-san's runes are in effect. I can't interfere now." Kagura mused before she turned to her ally. "I will go find one of the other four mages to challenge. Good luck, Minako-san."

"Same to you, Kagura-chan!" Venus shouted at the younger woman who left the two combatants. The ribbon wearing blonde watched the raven haired mage disappear in the distance before she turned back to Gajeel and dropped into a stance.

"How did you know I am with Natsu?"

"Those that appeared here got the knowledge that some of the people who were brought here with Salamander and Gray come from wherever Salamander went off to, not really hard to figure out who is who." Gajeel answered with a shrug. "Now if you have no other questions, let's start fighting."

'With Salamander and Gray? So these two really are at the center of this situation.' Venus thought, but instead asked, "I do have more questions. Like what's up with all the piercings?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Gajeel asked back, confused.

"Nothing, I just wanted to keep you talking!" Venus suddenly shouted, already moving to catch Gajeel off guard with a flying kick that the mage blocked, then pushed away the blonde's leg. The senshi landed on her feet, but quickly backflipped to dodge the black haired mage's own kick. The two fighters dashed at each other with mirroring high kicks, resulting in their shins colliding.

"Gihi!" Gajeel grinned as Venus put some distance between the two of them and rubbed her leg.

"Are you made of iron or something?" The blonde wondered and Gajeel's grin widened.

"Bingo!" He simply said, turning his hand into an blade that caused Venus to stare at him, dumbfounded. "Still think you are up for it?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Tinhead. I'm just getting started!" Venus declared as she extended her hand towards the mage and gathered light. "CRESCEND BEAM!"

Gajeel responded to the light attack by covering his skin with metal, tanking the attack.

"Not much of a move..." he started to say, but the mage realised that it was a distraction as Venus almost managed to strike him from the side with a silver sword.

"You have good reflexes. This will be fun after all!" He said as he turned his hands into poles and blocked the sword with one while moving to bludgeon the Senshi with the other.

"So happy to earn your approval!" Venus snarked while sidestepping the attack.

* * *

"I remember something similar happened three years ago when one of Fairy Tail's strongest forced the rest in a brawl to determine the guild's top mage, and Freed's runes were used to set the rules." Lyon mused as Sailor Mars and he walked at a different part of the city. The raven haired senshi stiffened at the mage's comment, and he noticed that her gaze hardened.

"From what Natsu told us about Fairy Tail, I find it hard to think that there's a person who would compel his friends into such a twisted game." Mars noted.

"He did get excommunicated for that incident." Lyon noted as he looked ahead. "Still, if Phantasma recreates events, does that mean the same person is the plane's guardian?"

"If he is, I'll introduce him to my flames!" The raven haired senshi fiercely said before she took a deep breath. "I apologise for that outburst. This place is not good for my nerves."

"I don't think it's just that. There's something else that troubles you." Lyon noted as he smiled encouragingly. "We hardly know each other, but I don't mind listening if you are willing to share."

Mars contemplated the white haired mage's offer for a while, then nodded to herself.

"From what I understand, you and Gray-san were taught by the same master; yet your magic is different? That by itself makes sense, you followed different paths. But still, Gray-san didn't feel like a simple ice mage. And he's not a dragon slayer like Natsu. What is he?"

"Man, you two are on a date and all the lady is thinking about is Gray. You need to step up your game, Lyon!" A cocky voice was suddenly heard from above, followed by a high pitched echo of "Step up! Step up!"

"That was bluntly put, but this jester is right this time." A haughty voice added, and the duo looked up to see a tall man with a colourful jester outfit who kept sticking his tongue out playfully, and an elegant bespectacled brunette with a green strapless dress and wings.

"A clown and a fairy?" Mars wondered, confused, while Lyon smiled.

"Bickslow and Evergreen. Just the Raijinshu I was looking for. Well met!" The Lamia Scale mage greeted them with a gentlemanly bow.

"See, Bickslow? You could learn some manners from someone like Lyon Vastia." Evergreen said with a slight smirk, and Bickslow laughed loudly in response.

"No need to, the ladies can't keep themselves off me." The jester boisterously said as he turned to Mars. "How about it, Nee-chan? Wanna have some fun?"

"No." The senshi simply said, not bothering to hide her disgust.

"Oh you're an interesting one. What's your name?" Evergreen asked, earning Mars' attention.

"You may call me Sailor Mars."

"A code name? You have a cute outfit too. I think I like you." Evergreen noted while fixing her glasses. She then swiftly shut her fan, launching a rapid beam of light at Mars, who moved her left arm in a circular pattern, creating a flaming shield that blocked the mage's attack. The raven haired senshi dashed at the brunette while going through her meditation seals.

"Rin - Byou - Tou - Sha - Kai - Jin - Retsu - Zai - Zen! FIRE SOUL!" She yelled, launching a fireball at Evergreen, who flew higher to dodge. To the brunette's surprise, Mars jumped with a war cry and punched her in the face, sending her spinning.

"Oh she's a fiery one!" Bickslow commented with an impressed whistle.

"Do you need to be cooled down?" Lyon asked with a smirk, earning a thumbs up from the grinning Fairy Tail mage.

"Nice follow up! But as fun as it is to watch the ladies duke it out, we should pull our own weight."

"That's rich coming from someone who uses puppets to levitate!" Lyon snarked as he took his stance.

* * *

"Hey Little Rabbit, careful where you're running!" Uranus adviced Chibi Moon, who ran ahead in excitement.

"But this is Natsu-nii's hometown! And it's so pretty!" The younger girl grinned, earning a smile from the blonde.

'How did that guy manage to melt down Chibiusa-chan's sugar and ice personality?' She wondered but instead said. "Even so, we're not in the real Magnolia, so don't let your guard down."

"Don't worry, Uranus-nee. I'm stronger than before." Chibi Moon reassured the older woman, who shook her head in amusement.

'Still, she's right. It is a pretty place, close to the countryside. Michiru would love it here...' Uranus mused before she stopped her train of thoughts. Chibi Moon, oblivious as she was to the older senshi's thoughts, was following a same line of thoughts as she knelt to see a white flower.

"Hotarun would like this town." The pinkette pondered. Suddenly, she noticed Uranus shifting to guard her and realised someone was approaching. Chibi Moon got up to see a seemingly non threatening woman walking towards them. Long white hair framed her delicate face, and the pinkette would probably relax and get lost in the woman's crystal blue eyes if not for Uranus staring at the newcomer intensely.

"My, my. I understand that we have to fight, but there's no need to be so hostile." The mage joked before she elegantly bowed to them, holding the hems of her red dress like a princess. "My name is Mirajane Strauss, mage and resident barmaid of Fairy Tail."

"So pretty... Like a rose." Chibi Moon commented, awestruck.

"Yeah. But all roses have their thorns." Uranus added, prompting Mirajane to tilt her head to the side while eyesmiling.

"What do you mean by that?" She wondered, causing Uranus to smirk.

"So that's how you want to play it? I'm game!" The blonde said as she went for a fast combo that Mirajane effortlessly dodged, all without losing her smile. She then jumped back gracefully as if the senshi didn't just try to pummel her.

"Are all barmaids this fast?" Uranus asked, more intrigued than annoyed that she failed to land a hit.

"Only those that take their post seriously. But you didn't introduce yourselves."

"Oh! My name is Tsukino Usagi, also known as Small Lady and Chibiusa! Pleased to meet you!" Chibi Moon said with a slight bow, barely avoiding to stuble on her words as Mirajane giggled, an angelic sound to the pinkette's ears.

"My, so polite!" The white haired woman commented and turned to Uranus, who started posing.

"Guarded by Uranus, Planet of the Skies. I am the Soldier of Flight, Sailor Uranus! And you, Mirajane, are in my sights!" The senshi declared, and Chibi Moon swore that the sky started to get cloudy after Uranus' introduction.

"You might find dear me more than you can handle, Uranus-san." Mirajane noted before she glanced at Chibi Moon. "I suggest you take a couple of steps back, Chibiusa-chan. Things are about to get, wild."

The air began to shift as a magic circle appeared beneath the mage's feet, and both senshi felt a sudden pressure as a dome of darkness exploded right where the barmaid stood. The dome vanished just as swiftly, revealing Mirajane in a completely different outfit which consisted of a dark red leotard with a low neckline, armoured boots and clawed gauntlets, a tail, while her hair defied gravity. But what struck the pinkette most was the mage's eyes, which were a much sharper icy blue.

"Take Over: Satan Soul!" Mirajane called with a much deeper voice than before. "I hope you are as eager as earlier, Uranus-san."

"I was actually hoping to get you out of that prim and proper dress myself, but revealing yourself is also fine. You promised wild after all." Uranus smirked, and Mirajane smirked back before they dashed at each other.

* * *

 _"There were more bandits than we expected. Entrusting Fairy Tail with this mission was a good idea." Siegrain noted as he looked over the mission report while Gray and Erza sat across him._

 _"Really? We're supposed to believe the always complaining council trusts us?" Gray mused with obvious distrust, prompting Erza to kick him in the shin from beneath the desk to silence him. If the blue haired councilman noticed it, he ignored it and simply smiled affably._

 _"It's true that some are wary of your guild and its reputation, but there are some of us who appreciate Fairy Tail's contribution to the safety of our country." He admitted to the pair, but Gray felt the councilman's comment dripping with condescence and one glance at Erza showed that his partner wasn't buying it either._

 _"Are you one of these people, councilman Siegrain?" The scarlet haired girl asked, causing Siegrain's smile to widen._

 _"Of course. After all, it's the guild that Erza is a part of." The blue haired mage answered, and Gray felt an intense desire to punch him in the face, while Erza glared at the councilman before getting up and moving for the door._

 _"One_ _last question." Gray started, and both Erza and Siegrain turned their attention to him. "Those bandits turned out to be dark mages, and their target was me. Isn't that weird?"_

 _"Weird indeed. No need to worry, Gray-kun, we'll look into it." Siegrain reassured the dark haired teen._

 _"Of course you will." Gray simply said and joined Erza in leaving the room. Once they closed the door, Erza took hold of his hand and started pulling him along while walking at a faster pace. Gray didn't say a word, instead he let his partner lead him until they reached a quieter area. There she faced him, and he could see the anger and pain that she felt which reminded him of the day he found her crying on the side of the river._

 _"I can always go back and punch him if that'll help." The dark haired teen half joked, and Erza actually chuckled at his suggestion._

 _"Trust me, I feel like hitting him every time we meet. But that's exactly what half the council expects of us, so let's keep proving them wrong." The scarlet haired girl said, showing Gray once again that inner strength that he so admired. It was then that he realised; they were still holding hands. And Erza noticed it as well, but she only smiled at him in response._

 _"I thought that I should be with you in the report as your teammate, but you helped me more by being there when I met that man. You're always there for me, so thank you, Gray." She admitted, and Gray found that he couldn't face that beautiful smile at the moment, so he looked to the side. However, his eyes fell on a raven haired girl with pale skin that caused his blood to freeze._

 _"Ur?" He muttered, but the girl just paused by without noticing him. Previous embarassment gone, Gray turned back to Erza, only to come face to face with a masked priest._

Back at the base, Gray shot up from his lying position, grunting in pain.

"Gray-san!" Ami called as both Makoto and she jolted up and went to his side, looking worried. "You're pale. Are you still in pain?"

"I'm fine, just feeling tired." The mage said as he sat up.

"Bad dream then?" Makoto wondered while Ami moved away for a moment, returning with a cup that she handed to Gray.

"More like a long memory, one I'm not sure why I would remember now." He said before he drank, feeling instantly invigorated. "What is this? Did you have it with you?"

"We found it here, but we can explain later. All the moving around the planes took its toll on you so you should rest." Ami suggested, earning a nod from Gray.

"The others are not back yet, so there's time. We were thinking of exploring the area, but one of us can stay if you want to." Makoto added.

"No need to, you can go explore. I'll sit here and rest." Gray reassured the two women. Ami and Makoto looked at each other before nodding and left the mage alone. Gray leaned back on the stone wall, trying to sort his thoughts.

'That raven haired girl... now I know who she is. But why is that priest appearing in my memories?'

* * *

 **Author's Note:** **I did say that I'd try to post another chapter during Summer, so the last day of August totally definitely co** **unts. Way to go me!**

 **Anyway, this was a fun chapter to write as it gave me the chance to have a pure Fairy Tail scene that showed Gray's blossoming feelings for Erza while indicating that Phantasma really is getting to him. And in the meantime, in a sort of recreation of the Battle of Fairy Tail, multiple duels are taking place at the same time, similar to when Natsu and the Senshi stormed Mugen Academy to save Chibiusa's soul. Funnily enough, Uranus had a different opponent in my original draft, but I just couldn't make it work, which is kinda ironic considering her talk with Mira came completely naturally to write. On the othe side, Venus versus Gajeel was one of the first things I thought of when I started the story. So what do you guys think about the match ups?**

 **Next chapter is the continuation of the Fighting Festival which most likely will also include the battle with the guardian. No idea when will I be able to write it, but I'm hoping within the year? Jokes aside, if I manage to get leave in September, then it will be soon. Until next time!**


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